THE 
GERMANIA 

OF 

TACITUS 


STUART 


ooaiaMvs 


if    '    i    ^*&1 


'7/7 


TACITUS  — THE   GERMANIA 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON    •    CHICAGO   •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


MAP   TO    IL] 
GERMANIC 


TRATE   THE 
F   TACITUS 


TACITUS 
THE  GERMANIA 


WITH  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES 


DUANE  KEED   STUAET 

PROFESSOR   OP   CLASSICS    IN    PRINCETON 
UNIVERSITY 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1916 

All  rights  rtterved 


COPYBIGHT,    1916, 

BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  March,  1916. 


XortaooU 

J.  8.  Cushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

IN  this  country,  as  well  as  abroad,  pedagogical  tradition 
has  long  treated  the  Agricola  and  the  Germania  as  coordinal 
elements  of  the  Latin  curriculum.  This  book,  the  prepara- 
tion of  which  has  been  retarded  by  pressure  of  other  work, 
is  now  offered  as  the  companion  of  my  edition  of  the  Agricola 
(Xew  York,  1909). 

In  so  far  as  the  intrinsic  differences  between  the  two 
treatises  permit,  the  plan  of  this  edition  accords  with  that 
of  its  predecessor.  The  notes,  necessarily  somewhat  more 
elaborate  than  the  commentary  on  the  Agricola,  have  been 
written  primarily  with  an  eye  to  the  needs  and  interests  of 
the  learner.  In  conformity  with  a  suggestion  of  the  editor 
of  the  series,  parallel  citations  drawn  from  works  that  are 
presumably  known  to  the  young  student  by  name  only,  if 
at  all,  have  been  translated.  In  general,  originality  has 
been  less  a  desideratum  than  reliability  ;  however,  I  have 
essayed  to  present  my  own  summary  and  appraisal  of  the 
multifarious  data  which  the  last  generation  of  criticism  has 
yielded. 

No  editor  of  this  book  of  Tacitus  can  claim  the  right  to 
a  hearing  who  has  not  taken  strict  account  of  the  work  of 
German  scholars,  who,  conscious  that  for  them,  in  a  peculiar 
sense,  the  Germania  speaks  of 

"  virum  monumenta  priorum," 

have  made  this  field  so  largely  their  own  and  have  delved 
in  it  con  amove,     I  gratefully  acknowledge  my  indebted- 


yi  PREFACE 

ness  to  Baunistark,  Miillenhoff,  Zernial,  Schweizer-Sidler, 
Wiinsch,  Schdnemann,  Wolff,  and  Andresen  —  to  mention 
only  a  few  of  the  long  line.  Of  editions  in  English,  I 
have  consulted  with  profit  Furneaux,  Gudeman,  and  Allen- 
Hendrickson. 

I  have  to  thank  Professor  Egbert,  the  editor  of  the  series, 
for  his  careful  reading  of  the  manuscript.  My  friends,  Pro- 
fessor David  Magie,  Jr.,  and  Professor  John  Basore,  were  so 
good  as  to  read  the  proof  of  the  Latin  text. 

DUANE   REED  STUART. 
PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION **• 

EDITIONS  AND  COMMENTARIES xxii 

TEXT 

NOTES '  •         •         .25 

APPENDIX  


vii 


INTRODUCTION   TO   THE   GERMANIA 

THE  contents  of  the  Germania  were  grouped  by  Tacitus 
under  two  main  heads,  the  transition  between  which  is 
indicated  in  chapter  27.  The  first  of  these  divisions 
presents  an  exposition,  general  in  character,  of  the 
geography  of  the  country  as  a  whole  and  of  the  universal 
features  of  the  national  civilization ;  the  second  part 
deals  with  the  separate  tribes  and  their  distinctive  traits 
and  institutions. 

In  chapter  37  Tacitus  gives  a  re'sume'  of  the  collisions 
between  Roman  and  German  arms  from  the  invasion  of 
the  Cimbri  down  to  his  own  day.  He  sets  as  the  chrono- 
logical limits  of  this  outline  the  consulship  of  Caecilius 
Metellus  and  Papirius  Carbo,  113  B.C.,  and  the  second 
consulate  of  Trajan,  98  A.D.  Evidently,  then,  the  com- 
position of  the  treatise  falls  in  the  latter  year,  which, 
it  will  be  remembered,  was  marked  also  by  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Agricola.  The  biographical  tribute  antedates 
the  Germania,  but  the  interval  between  the  two  works 
was  at  the  most  a  matter  of  months  only. 

In  the  introductory  chapters  of  all  his  other  works, 
Tacitus  takes  his  readers  into  his  confidence  and  sets 
forth  concretely  the  aims  which  have  actuated  him  to 
treat  his  subject.  In  the  case  of  the  Germania  alone,  he 
departs  from  his  practice  elsewhere,  and,  with  a  direct- 
ness truly  Caesarian,  plunges  at  once  into  his  theme. 


X  INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERMANIA 

The  fact  that  he  was  content  that  the  title  should  speak 
for  itself  suggests  that  he  regarded  it  as  self-explanatory, 
as  an  adequate  preface  —  unless  we  are  willing  to  adopt, 
as  an  improbable  alternative,  the  view  that  he  chose 
to  disguise  his  purpose  and  to  force  his  readers  to  search 
for  it  between  the  lines. 

The  title  —  whatever  the  form  in  which  Tacitus  cast 
it  —  promises  a  geographical  and  ethnological  treatise  on 
Germany.  A  thoughtful  perusal  of  the  work  cannot 
fail  to  convince  one  that  the  motive  that  controlled 
Tacitus  in  writing  was  simply  that  which  the  title  in- 
dicates. He  sought  to  acquaint  his  reading  public  with 
German  lands  and  German  peoples;  the  information 
which  he  proposes  to  impart  forms  his  conscious  end 
and  aim.  However,  being  Tacitus,  he  could  not  restrict 
himself  to  presenting  an  objective,  encyclopedic  body 
of  facts.  His  personal  bias  and  his  subjective  attitude 
toward  his  world  frequently  intrude  themselves  into  the 
narrative.  Tacitus  was  by  nature  too  sincerely  the  cen- 
sor as  well  as  the  mentor  of  his  time  and  milieu  wholly 
to  repress  his  tendencies  for  long.  His  temperament 
could  not  brook  divorce  from  his  work. 

Hence  it  is  that  many  contexts  of  the  Germania  have 
a  subjective  coloring.  This  fact  and  the  silence  of  Tacitus 
as  to  his  object  have  given  scope  for  speculation  concern- 
ing the  actual  purpose  of  the  treatise. 

Some  one  has  wittily  said,  "In  Tacitus  only  Agricola 
and  the  Germans  are  good."  This  comment  is  as  far 
from  the  truth  as  are  most  epigrams  of  the  sort.  Tacitus 
by  no  means  depicts  German  life  and  character  as  flaw- 
less. Nevertheless,  he  eagerly  embraces  such  opportuni- 
ties as  offer  for  contrasting  the  simple  tastes  and  sturdy 


INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERMANIA  XI 

virtues  of  the  Germans  with  the  over-refinement  and 
moral  decadence  rife  among  the  upper  strata  of  urban 
society  in  his  time.  Hence  one  trend  of  criticism  has 
insisted  on  discerning  in  the  spirit  revealed  in  such  con- 
texts the  design  underlying  the  composition  of  the  Ger- 
mania.  The  treatise  has  been  exalted  into  a  sermon  of 
ethical  intent,  uttered  in  arraignment  of  civilized  man  and 
his  ways,  in  idealization  of  primitive,  unsophisticated 
society. 

Tacitus  has  elements  of  the  satirist  and  the  moralist 
in  his  make-up.  But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  Germania 
that  he  breathes  his  conviction  that  "all's"  not  "right 
with  the  world."  0  tempora,  0  mores  flowed  easily 
from  the  end  of  his  pen  in  all  his  work.  Utterances  or 
implications  in  this  vein  are  invited  in  the  Germania, 
more  frequently  than  elsewhere,  by  the  nature  of  the 
subject  matter.  However,  to  magnify  them  into  an 
animus  pervading  the  whole  narrative  and  motivating 
it,  is  to  do  violence  to  the  proportions  of  the  contents 
and  to  regard  as  an  isolated  characteristic  a  point  of  view 
that  is,  to  be  sure,  conspicuous  in  the  Germania,  but 
none  the  less  a  chronic  feature  of  the  author's  temper. 

Furthermore,  comparison  of  the  enlightened  and  the 
barbarous  worlds  was  not  a  tendency  original  with  and 
peculiar  to  Tacitus.  Any  civilization  worthy  of  the 
name  is  prone  to  turn  its  eyes  inward  on  itself  and  to 
estimate  pragmatically  its  degree  of  success  or  failure. 
An  integral  part  of  this  self-scrutiny  must  be  inevitably 
comparative  examination  of  other  civilizations.  The 
value  of  that  which  is  local  or  present  is  measured  most 
clearly  by  the  foreign  or  the  past.  One  result  of  the 
appraisal  of  itself  undertaken  by  a  culture  may  be  self- 


Xll  INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERMANIA 

satisfaction,  as  illustrated  in  the  attitude  assumed  by 
the  Greek  toward  the  barbarian,  the  Jew  toward  the 
Gentile.  Or  there  may  come  an  opposite  conclusion, 
carrying  with  it  a  sense  of  failure  and  the  conviction 
that  it  is  necessary  to  look  to  other  peoples,  other  times, 
for  life  lived  in  a  manner  closer  to  perfection.  Such  a 
consciousness  is  given  to  asserting  itself  in  a  revolt  against 
the  complexities  and  the  artificialities  and  the  errors  of 
the  life  of  its  own  environment.  Thus,  a  civilization 
spleens  against  itself  and  idealizes  that  which  it  is  not. 

In  such  contingencies  men  become  laudatores  temporis 
acti  and  plead  the  urgency  of  a  return  to  the  ways  of  the 
past.  Sighs  are  heard  from  the  poets  for  the  renascence 
of  the  Golden  Age.  This  Romanticism,  as  it  is  termed, 
was  an  outstanding  tendency  of  the  Rome  of  Augustus. 
It  expressed  itself  in  imperial  policy;  the  fabric  of  the 
poetry  of  Vergil,  Horace,  and  Tibullus  is  shot  with  strands 
of  this  hue.  However,  a  malcontent  civilization,  pining 
to  escape  from  itself,  is  not  confined  to  focusing  its  gaze 
on  the  past.  It  may  find  exemplars  of  the  ideal  existence 
in  circles  of  mankind  contemporary  with  it  but  of  a 
different  environment.  Thus,  such  an  epoch  discovers 
a  devotion,  more  or  less  genuine,  to  an  idyllic  life  in  the 
fields  and  "under  the  greenwood  tree."  With  Vergil 
it  may  exclaim,  "0  fortunatos  agricolas"  and  body  forth 
its  penchant  in  pastoral  poetry  and  "bucolic  masquerad- 
ing," as  in  the  Alexandria  of  the  Ptolemies,  and  the  Paris 
of  the  later  Louis.  As  a  further  variant  of  this  enthusiasm, 
a  movement  back  to  nature  may  overstep  the  boundaries 
of  nationality  and  find  its  admiration  in  foreign  races  un- 
touched by  the  blight  of  civilization  and  still  in  the  child- 
hood of  their  development,  where  absence  of  desire  is 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GERMANIA  Xlll 

equal  to  riches  and,  in  the  words  of  Tacitus  (Germ.  19), 
plus  .  .  .  boni  mores  valent  quam  alibi  bonae  leges. 

The  Germania,  in  so  far  as  it  reflects  this  spirit,  is  to 
be  viewed  merely  as  one  expression  of  an  attitude  of  mind 
which  cannot  be  limited  to  a  single  writer  or  to  a  single 
age.  Eulogy  of  the  nature-peoples  —  if  we  may  anglicize 
a  convenient  German  compound  —  in  its  rudimentary 
form  is  as  old  as  the  Homeric  poems  with  their  references 
to  the  "blameless  Ethiopians,"  dwelling  in  a  remote 
quarter  of  the  world,  and  to  the  nations  of  the  far  North, 
"milk-eaters,  most  just  of  men."  The  theme  continued 
to  be  a  favorite  sentiment  in  Greek  literature,  prose  and 
poetic.  In  Hellenistic  times  especially,  when  the  strife 
and  the  unrest  resident  in  social  and  political  conditions 
impelled  men  to  contemplate  with  approval  and  envy 
the  lot  of  those  who  enjoyed  a  serene  existence  apart 
from  the  madding  crowd,  the  topos  developed  into  a 
formal  mode  of  thought.  Life  according  to  nature  was 
seriously  advocated  by  the  philosophers  and  its  praises 
were  sung  by  the  poets.  The  historians  did  their  part 
by  extolling  in  ethnological  descriptions  the  virtues  of 
barbarous  races  and  primitive  epochs  of  civilization.  In 
historiography  the  culmination  of  the  tendency  is  rep- 
resented by  Posidonius  of  Apamea,  a  Stoic  philosopher, 
a  friend  and  teacher  of  Cicero.  In  an  elaborate  historical 
work,  a  continuation  of  Polybius,  he  set  a  mode  in  geo- 
graphical digression  and  idealistic  portraiture  of  peoples 
which  exerted  potent  influence  on  subsequent  exponents 
in  kindred  fields.  In  manner  and  in  method  the  Ger- 
mania is  merely  an  exemplification  of  the  type. 

Knowledge  of  the  literary  antecedents  of  the  Germania 
is  important  to  us  only  as  it  contributes  to  an  under- 


XIV  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GERMANIA 

standing  of  the  mood  in  which  the  book  was  written. 
That  phase  of  criticism  which  argued  that  Tacitus  was 
governed  by  a  definite  satirical  or  ethical  purpose,  now 
belongs  to  the  past.  Another  interpretation  has  had  its 
partisans  even  in  the  present  century.  This  school  has 
professed  to  see  in  the  Germania  a  kind  of  political  bro- 
chure, composed  primarily  with  the  idea  of  shaping  state 
policy  in  its  relation  to  German  affairs.  Adherents  of  this 
view  have  formulated  the  author's  motives  in  various 
ways :  Rome  was  to  be  warned  of  the  German  peril,  and 
the  new  emperor,  Trajan,  was  to  be  moved  to  undertake 
vigorous  offensive  measures,  or,  vice  versa,  to  be  dissuaded 
from  them ;  the  protracted  sojourn  at  the  German  frontier 
on  the  part  of  Trajan,  who  had  not  as  yet  returned  to 
the  City  since  his  elevation  to  the  principate,  was  to  be 
explained  and  justified.  Any  hypothesis  of  this  sort  neces- 
sitates the  assumption  that  chapter  37  is  the  vital  point 
of  the  treatise,  and  involves  a  deal  of  reading  between 
the  lines,  a  practice  to  which  a  writer  who  is  so  much  a 
master  of  the  subtleties  of  nuance  and  innuendo  as  Tac- 
itus, easily  tempts  the  critic.  It  is  characteristic  of  the 
older  interpreters  both  of  the  Agricola  and  the  Germania 
to  be  caught  in  the  pitfalls  which  the  literary  method  of 
Tacitus  prepares  for  them.  Consensus  of  present  criticism 
realizes  that  it  is  only  by  putting  a  fictitious  value  on 
isolated  passages  of  comparatively  slight  extent  and  at- 
taching a  primary  significance  to  passing  allusions,  that 
either  work  can  be  dignified  into  a  piece  of  special  plead- 
ing with  political  intent. 

Nevertheless,  the  Germania  stands  in  close  relation 
to  the  events  of  its  day.  Rome's  northern  neighbors 
had  been  constantly  obtruding  themselves  on  her  atten- 


INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERM  AN  IA  XV 

tion.  Domitian's  campaign  against  the  Chatti  (83-84) 
was  still  in  the  public  memory;  the  great  system  of 
fortifications,  which  he  had  fathered,  was  being  extended 
along  the  frontier  and  even,  at  certain  points,  pushed 
forward  into  Germany  beyond  previous  lines  of  defense. 
The  Quadi  and  the  Marcomanni  had  sympathized  with 
the  Dacians  in  their  outbreaks  in  85-86.  In  the  time 
of  Nerva,  Rome  was  threatened  by  a  Suebian-Sarmatian 
entente.  At  the  death  of  this  ineffectual  emperor,  his 
energetic  successor  was  at  Cologne,  where  the  problems 
of  administration  and  organization  of  the  German  prov- 
inces were  to  claim  his  presence  for  a  considerable  period. 
In  view  of  these  facts  the  Germania  may  fairly  be  termed 
a  timely  publication.  It  is  justifiable  to  infer  that  Tacitus, 
when  he  was  writing  the  book,  realized  that  it  was  bound 
to  challenge  attention. 

Nevertheless,  it  would  be  an  error  to  assume  that  the 
timeliness  of  the  work  and  the  fact  that  it  dealt  with 
matters  especially  germane  to  public  interest,  were  the 
sole  reasons  which  inspired  Tacitus  to  treat  the  theme. 
The  Germania  stands  in  vital  relation  to  the  intellectual 
interests  of  its  author.  Therefore,  we  may  be  sure  that 
he  would  have  devoted  attention  to  the  subject  in  any 
case,  at  some  time  and  in  some  form.  We  know  that 
when  the  Agricola  was  being  written,  Tacitus  had  blocked 
out  a  work  that  afterwards  took  shape  as  the  Histories. 
Ancient  literary  theory  had  long  accorded  a  place  in 
historiography  to  accounts  of  peoples  and  countries, 
even  though  such  contexts  were  reckoned  as  digressions, 
hence  were  frequently  introduced  by  some  apologetic 
or  explanatory  formula.  See,  for  illustration,  Histories 
5.  2.  Many  of  the  events  which  fall  into  the  period 


Xvi  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GERMANIA 

covered  by  the  Histories  were  staged  in  Germany,  and 
German  races  were  frequent  participants  in  the  action, 
as  is  evident  even  in  the  fraction  of  the  work  that  has 
come  down  to  us.  The  necessity  of  orientating  and 
instructing  the  reader  would  have  demanded  the  in- 
sertion of  a  modicum  of  geographical  and  ethnological 
material.  Literary  precedent  sanctioned  the  incorpora- 
tion of  such  data  in  a  continuous  context.  That  Tacitus 
followed  formal  practice  in  this  respect,  is  shown  by  the 
presence  of  the  digression  on  the  Jews  and  their  customs 
in  the  fifth  book  of  the  Histories.  The  stress  which  he 
laid  on  subject  matter  of  the  sort  is  conspicuously  re- 
vealed in  the  Agricola,  where  he  did  not  hesitate  to  trans- 
gress the  canons  of  the  biographical  form  in  order  to 
insert  his  account  of  the  British  peoples  and  country. 
In  such  a  work  as  the  Histories  the  extent  of  an  excursus 
on  Germany  would  necessarily  be  curtailed  in  comparison 
with  the  length  of  our  treatise.  Nevertheless,  geography, 
ethnology,  and  political  history  would  doubtless  be  rep- 
resented, since  all  these  elements  are  present  in  the  simi- 
lar digressions  in  the  Histories  and  the  Agricola. 

In  origin,  therefore,  and  in  kind,  the  Germania  is  a 
by-product  of  the  historical  studies  of  Tacitus.  Whether 
he  designed  it  to  serve  essentially  as  a  substitute  for  an 
excursus  in  the  Histories,  dealing  with  the  same  data  in 
briefer  compass,  it  is  unsafe  dogmatically  to  assert. 
Under  similar  circumstances,  a  modern  writer  would  be 
disposed  to  shape  a  treatise,  covering  one  division  of 
his  field,  into  a  complete  preliminary  to  his  greater  work 
and  thereafter  to  refer  his  readers  to  it  by  cross-reference 
and  footnote.  However,  the  devices  of  the  literary  tech- 
nique of  the  present  day  cannot  be  posited  without 


INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERMANIA  XV11 

modification  of  the  methods  of  ancient  men  of  letters. 
In  the  time  of  Tacitus,  treatment,  in  a  separate  essay,  of 
a  country  and  its  inhabitants  was  not  without  precedent. 
Thus,  Seneca,  who,  as  a  stylistic  model,  at  least,  exerted 
influence  on  Tacitus,  had  published  books  on  Egypt 
and  India.  Hence  the  Germania,  although  it  developed 
as  a  result  of  the  literary  interests  of  our  author,  was 
probably  framed  as  a  distinct  work  by  him  and  not 
especially  designed  to  hold  a  formal  place  in  the  se- 
quence of  his  program  of  historical  composition. 

Our  age  prides  itself  on  its  devotion  to  scientific  ac- 
curacy and  to  information  gained  at  first-hand.  No 
beauties  of  style  would  win  a  high  place  in  our  esteem 
for  a  book  on  Spanish  America  —  let  us  say  —  which 
was  not  based  on  intimate  personal  knowledge  of  the 
countries  and  peoples  described.  The  Germania,  how- 
ever, is  the  handiwork  of  the  bookman  and  the  stylist, 
and  not  of  the  traveler  and  the*  explorer.  The  treatise 
contains  no  convincing  indication  that  Tacitus  had  ever 
visited  Germany  and  studied  the  land  and  its  inhab- 
itants at  short  range.  The  literary  ideals  of  his  day 
would  not  have  exacted  such  punctiliousness  of  him  in 
amassing  his  material.  Deference,  of  course,  was  paid 
to  reliability,  and  artistic  merits  could  not  palliate  falsi- 
fication of  data,  either  in  the  opinion  of  Tacitus  or  of 
his  reading  public.  His  own  uncompromising  attitude 
in  this  regard  is  expressed  at  the  beginning  of  his  account 
of  Britain  (Agr.  10)  and  is  doubtless  typical  of  the  most 
severe  criticism  of  the  time.  Here  he  claims  highest 
respect  for  information  based  on  authoritative  observa- 
tion by  others,  not-  on  first-hand  acquaintance.  The 
same  standards  would  hold  good  for  the  Germania. 


XVlil  INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERMANIA 

According  to  the  ancient  criteria,  of  far  greater  moment 
in  gaining  the  approbation  of  his  readers  than  modern 
canons  of  taste  would  insist  on  in  a  work  of  corresponding 
content,  were  the  presentation  and  manipulation  of  his 
material  with  a  view  to  stylistic  effectiveness.  Although 
in  the  Germania  Tacitus  was  handling  a  subject  that 
would  have  lent  itself  to  dry,  encyclopedic  treatment, 
the  desire  of  esthetic  appeal  to  his  audience  was  as  omni- 
present as  it  was  in  the  composition  of  the  Agricola, 
notwithstanding  the  intrinsic  difference  in  the  themes 
of  the  two  pieces.  His  favorite  rhetorical  devices  and 
the  stylistic  mannerisms  characteristic  of  this  period  of 
his  writing  are  apparent  throughout,  from  the  typical 
locution  in  the  first  sentence,  mutuo  metu  aut  montibus 
separatur,  to  the  poetic  coloring  of  the  idealization  of 
the  life  of  the  wild  Fenni  in  the  last  chapter.  The  con- 
spicuous features  of  style  and  diction  which  are  present 
in  the  Agricola  are  also  discernible  in  the  Germania. 

It  was  not  in  consonance  with  the  literary  method  of 
Tacitus  frequently  to  refer  by  name  to  his  authorities. 
Thus,  in  the  Germania  specific  sources  are  disguised  in 
such  formulae  as  memoriae  proditur,  accepimus,  quidam 
opinantur,  eorum  opinionibus  accedo.  Direct  allusion  is 
made  to  one  author  only,  viz.  Julius  Caesar,  who  in  chapter 
28  is  termed  summus  auctorum.  In  this  passage  as  well 
as  elsewhere  in  an  instance  or  two,  Tacitus  reveals  familiar- 
ity with  the  contents  of  the  Gallic  War,  but  in  spite  of  his 
complimentary  estimate  of  Caesar's  credibility,  Tacitus 
derived  no  data  from  him  excepting  the  single  quotation. 
Tacitus  in  numerous  details  stands  at  variance  with  his 
predecessor,  and,  as  a  whole,  his  picture  of  German  civiliza- 
tion is  far  in  advance  of  that  presented  by  Caesar.  Be- 


INTRODUCTION   TO   THE  GERM  AN  IA  XIX 

sides  Caesar,  a  series  of  authors,  Greek  and  Roman,  had 
devoted  more  or  less  attention  to  Germany  and  the 
Germans  before  Tacitus  essayed  to  treat  the  subject. 
Worthy  of  especial  mention  are  Posidonius,  Livy,  who 
in  book  104  discussed  the  geography  of  Germany  and 
the  customs  of  the  people,  the  annalist  Aufidius  Bassus, 
an  immediate  successor  to  Livy  and  the  author  of  a 
work  cited  as  Libri  Belli  Germanici,  Pliny  the  Elder,  in 
whose  multifarious  literary  achievements  was  included 
a  complete  history  in  twenty  books  of  the  wars  which 
the  Romans  had  waged  with  the  Germans.  Owing  to 
the  loss  of  these  works  and  others  which  might  con- 
ceivably have  served  him,  and  because  of  the  absence  of 
surface  references  in  the  Germania,  it  is  impossible  to 
fix  the  sources  from  which  he  derived  particular  data. 
We  are  reduced  to  speculation  in  which  possible  sources 
figure  far  more  extensively  than  probable. 

Dependence  on  the  Bella  Germaniae  of  Pliny  may  be 
assumed  with  great  confidence.  The  title  of  this  work 
as  given  by  the  younger  Pliny,  Epist.  3.  5,  by  no  means 
justifies  the  conclusion  that  the  contents  comprised 
merely  records  of  campaigns.  That  such  a  work  might 
contain  descriptions  of  races  and  institutions  is  demon- 
strated by  Caesar's  Gallic  War.  It  is  certain  that  Tacitus 
would  have  found  in  the  Bella  Germanics  ready  to  his 
hand  a  mass  of  the  sort  of  material  of  which  he  stood  in 
need.  The  elder  Pliny  had  seen  service  in  Germany 
and  wrote  as  an  eye-witness.  He  was  a  compiler  of 
amazing  industry,  an  observer  who  did  not  depend  on 
memory  to  recall  what  he  had  seen  but  had  notes  taken 
on  the  spot.  This'  work  of  his  was  used  by  Tacitus  in 
writing  the  Annals;  see  Ann.  1.  69. 


XX  INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERMANIA 

Although,  as  has  been  said,  the  Germania  was  essen- 
tially the  creation  of  a  litterateur,  it  was  not  merely  a 
compilation  based  on  the  work  of  authors  of  past  genera- 
tions. The  occurrence  in  various  passages  of  adverbial 
expressions  such  as  hodie  and  adhuc  (chap.  3),  nunc  (chaps. 
33,  36,  37,  41),  mox  limite  acto  (chap.  29),  proximis  tem- 
poribus  (chap.  37),  and  the  like,  shows  that  he  took  cog- 
nizance of  events  and  conditions  of  his  own  day.  He 
was  informed  as  to  recent  shifts  in  tribal  positions  and 
changes  of  the  frontier.  His  discussion  of  the  tribes 
of  the  far  north  and  of  the  eastern  Germans  bears,  so 
far  as  our  means  of  comparison  extend,  marks  of  greater 
originality  and  less  dependence  on  literary  sources  than 
does  his  treatment  of  the  peoples  of  southern  and  west- 
ern Germany.  Now,  there  was  no  lack  of  informants 
to  whom  he  might  apply  for  a  knowledge  of  such  con- 
temporary affairs  as  had  not  been  incorporated  in  books. 
Between  the  City  and  Germany  there  was  a  constant 
circulation  of  persons  bound  on  military  and  official 
missions  or  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  In  the 
social  stratum  of  Tacitus  there  were,  of  a  certainty,  many 
who  had  seen  service  along  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube 
and  had  come  into  close  touch  with  German  life  and 
affairs.  The  letters  of  his  friend  Pliny  bear  witness 
to  the  pains  Tacitus  took  to  secure  data  possessed  by 
personal  observers,  when  opportunity  offered,  in  the 
composition  of  his  purely  historical  works.  We  may  be 
assured  that  the  Germania  contains  the  results  of  oral 
or  epistolary  inquiries  directed  to  qualified  informants, 
since  this  procedure  is  in  accord  with  his  literary  method 
as  we  find  it  exemplified  elsewhere. 

In  appreciating  the  Germania  and  estimating  the  value 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GERM  AN  IA  XXI 

of  the  facts  which  it  presents,  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  Tacitus,  a  Roman,  wrote  for  Romans  and  not  with 
an  eye  upon  the  demands  of  a  later  age.  We  must  re- 
member that  he  was  intent,  not  merely  on  disseminating 
information,  but  on  imparting  to  his  work  the  most 
artistic  form  of  which  his  talent  was  capable.  In  this 
latter  object  he  has  been  eminently  successful,  even 
though  the  niceties  of  criticism  force  us  to  confess  that 
the  booklet  does  not  reveal  the  fruition  of  his  powers. 
However,  we  do  not  have  to  divest  ourselves  of  modern 
literary  ideals  and  adopt  those  of  his  own  day  to  become 
sensible  to  the  charm  and  the  appeal  of  the  Germania. 

But  it  is  something  more  than  a  work  of  literary  art. 
Judged  as  an  array  of  facts,  it  holds  a  position  all  its 
own.  How  far  it  would  maintain  preeminence  in  this 
respect,  in  case,  by  some  impossible  miracle,  the  works 
of  all  the  other  authors  who  dealt  with  the  same  theme 
should  be  restored  to  us,  it  is  idle  to  speculate.  Actually 
it  stands  as  an  indispensable  repertorium  for  all  who  en- 
gage in  the  task  of  reconstructing  the  Kultur  of  our 
Germanic  forefathers.  It  is,  as  it  were,  the  golden  mili- 
arium  about  which  center  all  the  roads  which  the  scientific 
excursionist  into  the  domain  of  Anglo-German  antiquity 
must  tread.  Modern  scholarship  would  be  thankful  had 
Tacitus  been  more  explicit  on  certain  subjects,  had  in- 
dulged less  in  generalizations  artfully  phrased.  It  is 
tantalizing  to  suspect  that  rhetoric  is  sometimes  invoked 
to  cover  a  paucity  of  knowledge.  Research  in  Germanic 
literary  sources  of  later  ages  and  the  scientific  application 
of  linguistic  evidence  have  thrown  a  flood  of  light  on 
many  obscure  details.  Since  the  nineteenth  century 
the  spade  of  the  archaeologist  has  rendered  yeoman 


XXD  INTRODUCTION   TO  THE  GERMANIA 

service  in  uncovering  the  vestiges  of  Teutonic  civiliza- 
tion from  the  Stone  Age  on.  These  discoveries  have 
modified  certain  items  found  in  the  Germania  and  have 
largely  supplemented  it;  but  the  accuracy,  of  Tacitus 
has  also  been  confirmed  in  an  impressive  fashion.  In 
any  case,  the  Germania  has  been  and  must  remain  a 
necessary  adjunct  to  our  apparatus  of  scholarship  in 
its  field.  The  testimony  of  the  book  and  that  of  the 
remains  interact. 

It  was  a  fortunate  impulse  which  moved  a  leader  in 
the  intellectual  life  of  his  time,  a  gifted  representative 
of  the  highest  culture,  to  paint,  while  they  lived  in  their 
land  of  forest,  marsh,  and  mountain,  those  peoples  who, 
in  a  few  centuries,  were  to  follow  "the  star  of  empire" 
to  the  south  and  the  west,  and,  by  destroying  old  worlds, 
were  to  make  way  for  new.  In  modern  Germany  classical 
philologists  and  Germanic  specialists  have  joined  hands 
in  the  study  of  the  Germania,  with  an  enthusiasm  sus- 
tained not  alone  by  the  spirit  of  scholarship,  but  by  a 
patriotic  fervor.  Their  pride  in  the  possession  of  this 
monument  of  their  antiquity  and  the  intensity  of  their 
interest  in  it  should  be  shared  by  the  descendants  of 
Angles  and  Normans  in  all  lands  and  climes. 

EDITIONS  AND   COMMENTARIES 

Among  the  numerous  textual  and  exegetical  editions 
of  the  Germania  may  be  mentioned : 
R.  G.  Latham.     London,  1851. 
A.  J.  Church  and  W.  J.  Brodribb.     London,  1869. 
K.  Miillenhoff.     Berlin,  1873  (text). 
A.  Baumstark.     Leipsic,  1876;  revised  1881. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  GERMANIA  XX111 

F.  Kritz.     4th  edition,  Berlin,  1878. 

A.  Baumstark.  Ausfiihrliche  Erlduterung,  Leipsic,  1875 
and  1880. 

H.  Furneaux.     Oxford,  1894. 

U.  Zernial.     2d  edition,  Berlin,  1897. 

C.  Halm.  4th  edition,  Leipsic,  1883  (Teubner  text, 
now  in  process  of  revision). 

K.  Miillenhoff .  Erlduterung.  Deutsche  Altertumskunde, 
vol.  4,  BerHn,  1900. 

A.  Gudeman.     Boston,  1900. 

E.  Wolff.     2d  edition,  Leipsic,  1907. 

H.  Schweizer-Sidler.  7th  edition  revised  by  E.  Schwyzer, 
Halle,  1912. 

W.  F.  Allen.  Revised  by  Katharine  Allen  and  G.  L. 
Hendrickson,  Boston,  1913. 

M.  Hutton.  Text  and  translation  in  the  Loeb  Classical 
Library,  London  and  New  York,  1914. 

The  following  handbooks  of  recent  date  are  convenient 
for  reference  on  topics  pertaining  to  Germanic  history 
and  antiquities : 

Fr.  Kopp.  Die  Romer  in  Deutschland,  2d  edition, 
Bielefeld  and  Leipsic,  1912. 

K.  Helm.  Altgermanische  Religionsgeschichte,  vol.  1, 
Heidelberg,  1913. 

Fr.  Kauffmann.  Deutsche  Altertumskunde,  erste  Halfte, 
Munich,  1913. 


CORNEt.II  TACITI   DE  ORIGINE   ET 
SITU   GERMANORUM 

Germania  omnis  a  Gallis  Raetisque  et  Pannoniis  Rheno  l 
et  Danuvio  fluminibus,  a  Sarmatis  Dacisque  mutuo  metu 
aut  montibus  separatur :  cetera  Oceanus  ambit,  latos  sinus 
et  insularum  inmensa  spatia  complectens,  nuper  cognitis 
quibusdam   gentibus    ac    regibus,    quos   bellum    aperuit.  5 
Rhenus,  Raeticarum  Alpium  inaccesso  ac  praecipiti  ver- 
tice  ortus,   modico   flexu  in   occidentem  versus  septen- 
trionali  Oceano  miscetur.     Danuvius  molli  et  clementer 
edito  mentis  Abnobae  iugo  effusus  pluris  populos  adit, 
donee  in  Ponticum  mare  sex  meatibus  erumpat :    sep- 10 
timum  os  paludibus  hauritur. 

Ipsos  Germanos  indigenas  crediderim  minimeque  alia- 2 
rum  gentium  adventibus  et  hospitiis  mixtos,  quia  nee  terra 
olim,  sed  classibus  advehebantur  qui  mutare  sedes  quae- 
rebant,  et  inmensus  ultra  utque  sic  dixerim  adversus  Ocea- 
nus raris  ab  orbe  nostro  navibus  aditur.     Quis  porro,  5 
praeter  periculum  horridi  et  ignoti  maris,  Asia  aut  Africa 
aut  Italia  relicta  Germaniam  peteret,  informem  terris, 
asperam  caelo,  tristem  cultu  adspectuque,  nisi  si  patria  sit  ? 

Celebrant  carminibus  antiquis,  quod  unum  apud  illos 
memoriae  et  annalium  genus  est,  Tuistonem  deum  terra  10 
editum.  Ei  filium  Mannum,  originem  gentis  conditorem- 
que,  Manno  tris  filios  adsignant,  e  quorum  nominibus 
proximi  Oceano  Ingaevones,  medii  Herminones,  ceteri 
B  1 


2  CORNELII  TACITI 

Istaevones  vocentur.     Quidam,  lit  in  licentia  vetustatis, 

ispluris  deo  ortos  plurisque  gentis  appellationes,   Marsos 

Gambrivios  Suebos  Vandilios  adfirmant,  eaque  vera  et 

antiqua  nomina.     Ceterum  Germaniae  vocabulum  recens 

et  nuper  additum,  quoniam  qui  primi  Rhenum  transgress! 

Gallos  expulerint  ac  nunc  Tungri,  tune  German!  vocati 

20  sint :   ita  nationis  nomen,  non  gentis  evaluisse  paulatim, 

ut  omnes  primum  a  victore  ob  metum,  mox  etiam  a  se 

ipsis,  invento  nomine  Germani  vocarentur. 

3  Fuisse  apud  eos  et  Herculem  memorant,  primumque 
omnium  virorum  fortium  ituri  in  proelia  canunt.     Sunt 
illis  haec  quoque  carmina,  quorum  relatu,  quern  barditum 
vocant,  accendunt  animos  futuraeque  pugnae  fortunam 

sipso  cantu  augurantur.  Terrent  enim  trepidantve,  prout 
sonuit  acies,  nee  tarn  vocis  ille  quam  virtutis  concentus 
videtur.  Adfectatur  praecipue  asperitas  soni  et  fractum 
murmur,  obiectis  ad  os  scutis,  quo  plenior  et  gravior  vox 
repercussu  intumescat.  Ceterum  et  Ulixen  quidam  opi- 

lonantur  longo  illo  et  fabuloso  errore  in  hunc  Oceanum 
delatum  adisse  Germaniae  terras,  Asciburgiumque,  quod 
in  ripa  Rheni  situm  hodieque  incolitur,  ab  illo  constitutum 
nominatumque ;  aram  quin  etiam  Ulixi  consecratam, 
adiecto  Laertae  patris  nomine,  eodem  loco  olim  repertam, 

15  monumentaque  et  tumulos  quosdam  Graecis  litteris  in- 
scriptos  in  confinio  Germaniae  Raetiaeque  adhuc  exstare. 
Quae  neque  confirmare  argumentis  neque  refellere  in  animo 
est :  ex  ingenio  suo  quisque  demat  vel  addat  fidem. 

4  Ipse  eorum  opinionibus  accedo,  qui  Germaniae  populos 
nullis  aliis  aliarum  nationum  conubiis  infectos  propriam 
et  sinceram  et  tantum  sui  similem  gentem  exstitisse  ar- 
bitrantur.     Unde  habitus  quoque  corporum,  tamquam  in 

5  tanto  hominum  numero,  idem  omnibus :  truces  et  caerulei 


GERMANIA  3 

oculi,  rutilae  comae,  magna  corpora  et  tantum  ad  impetum 
valida :  laboris  atque  operum  non  eadem  patientia, 
minimeque  sitim  aestumque  tolerare,  frigora  atque  ine- 
diam  caelo  solove  adsueverunt. 

Terra  etsi  aliquanto  specie  differt,  in  universum  tamens 
aut  silvis  horrida  aut  paludibus  foeda,  umidior  qua  Gallias, 
ventosior  qua  Noricum  ac  Pannoniam  adspicit ;     satis 
ferax,  frugiferarum  arborum  inpatiens,  pecorum  fecunda, 
sed    plerumque    improcera.     Ne    armentis    quidem    suuss 
honor  aut  gloria  frontis :    numero  gaudent,  eaeque  solae 
et  gratissimae  opes  sunt.     Argentum  et  aurum  propitiine 
an  irati  di  negaverint  dubito.     Nee  tamen  adfirmaverim 
nullam   Germaniae  venam  argentum  aurumve  gignere : 
quis    enim    scrutatus    est  ?     Possessione    et    usu    baud  10 
perinde  adficiuntur.     Est  videre  apud  illos  argentea  vasa, 
legatis  et  principibus  eorum  muneri  data,   non  in  alia 
vilitate  quam  quae  humo  finguntur;   quamquam  proximi 
ob  usum  commerciorum  aurum  et  argentum  in  pretio 
habent  formasque  quasdam  nostrae  pecuniae  adgnoscunt  15 
atque   eligunt.     Interiores   simplicius   et   antiquius   per- 
mutatione  mercium  utuntur.     Pecuniam  probant  veterem 
et   diu  notam,   serratos  bigatosque.     Argentum  quoque 
magis  quam  aurum  sequuntur,   nulla  adfectione  animi, 
sed  quia  numerus  argenteorum  f acilior  usui  est  promiscua  20 
ac  vilia  mercantibus. 

Ne  ferrum  quidem  superest,  sicut  ex  genere  telorume 
colligitur.     Rari  gladiis  aut  maioribus  lanceis  utuntur : 
hastas  vel  ipsorum  vocabulo  frameas  gerunt  angusto  et 
brevi  ferro,  sed  ita  acri  et  ad  usum  habili,  ut  eodem  telo, 
prout  ratio  poscit,  vel  comminus  vel  eminus  pugnent.  5 
Et  eques  quidem  scuto  frameaque  contentus  est ;   pedites 
et  missilia  spargunt,  pluraque  singuli,  atque  in  inmensum 


4  CORNELII   TACITI 

vibrant,  nudi  aut  sagulo  leves.  Nulla  cultus  iactatio; 
scuta  tantum  lectissimis  coloribus  distinguunt.  Faucis 

10  loricae,  vix  uni  alterive  cassis  aut  galea.  Equi  non  forma, 
non  velocitate  conspicui.  Sed  nee  variare  gyros  in  morem 
nostrum  docentur  :  in  rectum  aut  uno  flexu  dextros  agunt, 
ita  coniuncto  orbe,  ut  nemo  posterior  sit.  In  universum 
aestimanti  plus  penes  peditem  roboris ;  eoque  mixti  proe- 

isliantur,  apta  et  congruente  ad  equestrem  pugnam  veloci- 
tate peditum,  quos  ex  omni  iuventute  delectos  ante  aciem 
locant.  Definitur  et  numerus;  centeni  ex  singulis  pagis 
sunt,  idque  ipsum  inter  suos  vocantur,  et  quod  primo 
numerus  fuit,  iam  nomen  et  honor  est.  Acies  per  cuneos 

20  componitur.  Cedere  loco,  dummodo  rursus  instes,  con- 
silii  quam  formidinis  arbitrantur.  Corpora  suorum  etiam 
in  dubiis  proeliis  referunt.  Scutum  reliquisse  praecipuum 
flagitium,  nee  aut  sacris  adesse  aut  concilium  inire  igno- 
minioso  fas ;  multique  superstites  bellorum  infamiam 

25  laqueo  fmierunt. 

7  Reges  ex  nobilitate,  duces  ex  virtute  sumunt.  Nee 
regibus  infinita  aut  libera  potestas,  et  duces  exemplo 
potius  quam  imperio,  si  prompti,  si  conspicui,  si  anto 
aciem  agant,  admiratione  praesunt.  Ceterum  neque 
5  animadvertere  neque  vincire,  ne  verberare  quidem  nisi 
sacerdotibus  permissum,  non  quasi  in  poenam  nee  ducis 
iussu,  sed  velut  deo  imperante,  quern  adesse  bellantibus 
credunt.  Effigiesque  et  signa  quaedam  detracta  lucis 
in  proelium  ferunt ;  quodque  praecipuum  fortitudinis 

10  incitamentum  est,  non  casus,  nee  fortuita  conglobatio 
turmam  aut  cuneum  facit,  sed  familiae  et  propinquitates ; 
et  in  proximo  pignora,  unde  feminarum  ululatus  audiri, 
unde  vagitus  infantium.  Hi  cuique  sanctissimi  testes, 
hi  maximi  laudatores.  Ad  matres,  ad  coniuges  vulnera 


GERMANIA  5 

ferunt ;    nee  illae  numerare  aut  exigere  plagas  pavent,  15 
cibosque  et  hortamina  pugnantibus  gestant. 

Memoriae   proditur  quasdam  acies  inclinatas  iam  et8 
labantes  a  feminis  restitutas  constantia  precum  et  obiectu 
pectorum  et  monstrata  comminus  captivitate,  quam  longe 
inpatientius  feminarum  suarum  nomine  timent,  adeo  ut 
efficacius  obligentur  animi  civitatum,  quibus  inter  obsides  5 
puellae  quoque  nobiles  imperantur.     Inesse  quin  etiam 
sanctum  aliquid  et  providum  putant,   nee  aut  consilia 
earum  aspernantur  aut  responsa  neglegunt.     Vidimus  sub 
divo   Vespasiano  Veledam  diu  apud  plerosque  nurninis 
loco  habitam ;    sed  et  olim  Albrunam  et  compluris  alias  10 
venerati   sunt,    non   adulatione   nee    tamquam   facerent 
deas. 

Deorum  maxime  Mercurium  colunt,  cui  certis  diebus9 
humanis  quoque  hostiis  litare  fas  habent.     Herculem  et 
Martem  concessis  animalibus  placant.     Pars  Sueborum 
et  Isidi  sacrificat :    unde  causa  et  origo  peregrine  sacro, 
parum  comperi,  nisi  quod  signum  ipsum  in  modum  libur-6 
nae    figuratum    docet    advectam    religionem.      Ceterum 
nee  cohibere  parietibus  decs  neque  in  ullam  humani  oris 
speciem  adsimulare  ex  magnitudine  caelestium  arbitran- 
tur :    lucos  ac  nemora  consecrant  deorumque  nominibus 
appellant  secretum  illud,  quod  sola  reverentia  vident.       10 

Auspicia  sortesque  ut  qui  maxime  observant :  •  sortium  10 
consuetude  simplex.     Virgam  frugiferae  arbori  decisam 
in  surculos  amputant  eosque  notis  quibusdam  discretes 
super   candidam    vestem   temere    ac   fortuito   spargunt. 
Mox,  si  publice  consultetur,  sacerdos  civitatis,  sin  privatim,  5 
ipse  pater  familiae,  precatus  deos  caelumque  suspicions 
ter  singulos  tollit,   sublatos  secundum  impressam   ante 
notam  interpretatur.     Si  prohibuerunt,  nulla  de  eadem 


O  CORNELII  TACITI 

re  in  eundem  diem  consultatio ;    sin  permissum,   auspi- 

lociorum  adhuc  fides  exigitur.  Et  illud  quidem  etiani  hie 
notum,  avium  voces  volatusque  interrogare;  proprium 
gentis  equorum  quoque  praesagia  ac  monitus  experiri. 
Publice  aluntur  isdem  nemoribus  ac  lucis,  candidi  et 
nullo  mortali  opere  contacti ;  quos  presses  sacro  curru 

15  sacerdos  ac  rex  vel  princeps  civitatis  comitantur  hinnitus- 
que  ac  fremitus  observant.  Nee  ulli  auspicio  maior  fides, 
non  solum  apud  plebem,  sed  apud  proceres,  apud  sacerdo- 
tes;  se  enim  ministros  deorum,  illos  conscios  putant. 
Est  et  alia  observatio  auspiciorum,  qua  gravium  bello- 

20  rum  eventus  explorant.  Eius  gentis,  cum  qua  bellum 
est,  captivum  quoquo  modo  interceptum  cum  electo 
popularium  suorum,  patriis  quemque  armis,  commit- 
tunt :  victoria  huius  vel  illius  pro  praeiudicio  accipitur. 

11  De  minoribus  rebus  principes  consultant ;  de  maio- 
ribus  omnes,  ita  tamen,  ut  ea  quoque,  quorum  penes 
plebem  arbitrium  est,  apud  principes  pertractentur. 
Coe'unt,  nisi  quid  fortuitum  et  subitum  incidit,  certis 

5  diebus,  cum  aut  incohatur  luna  aut  impletur ;  nam  agendis 
rebus  hoc  auspicatissimum  initium  credunt.  Nee  dierum 
numerum,  ut  nos,  sed  noctium  computant.  Sic  constitu- 
unt,  sic  condicunt :  nox  ducere  diem  videtur.  Illud  ex 
libertate  vitium,  quod  non  simul  nee  ut  iussi  conveniunt, 

10  sed  et  alter  et  tertius  dies  cunctatione  coeuntium  absumitur. 
Vt  turbae  placuit,  considunt  armati.  Silentium  per  sacer- 
dotes,  quibus  turn  et  coercendi  ius  est,  imperatur.  Mox  rex 
vel  princeps,  prout  aetas  cuique,  prout  nobilitas,  prout 
decus  bellorum,  prout  facundia  est,  audiuntur,  auctoritate 

15  suadendi  magis  quam  iubendi  potestate.  Si  displicuit  sen- 
tentia,  fremitu  aspernantur ;  sin  placuit,  frameas  concuti- 
unt.  Honoratissimum  adsensus  genus  est  armis  laudare. 


GERMANIA  7 

Licet   apud   concilium   accusare   quoque   et   discrimen  12 
capitis  intendere.     Distinctio  poenarum  ex  delicto.     Pro- 
ditores  et  transfugas  arboribus  suspendunt,  ignavos  et 
imbelles  et  corpore  infames  caeno  ac  palude,  iniecta  in- 
super  crate,  mergunt.     Diversitas  supplicii  illuc  respicit,  5 
tamquam  scelera  ostendi  oporteat,  dum  puniuntur,  flagitia 
abscondi.     Sed  et  levioribus  delictis  pro  modo   poena : 
equorum  pecorumque  numero  convicti  multantur.     Pars 
multae  regi  vel  civitati,   pars  ipsi,   qui  vindicatur,   vel 
propinquis  eius  exsolvitur.     Eliguntur  in  isdem  conciliisio 
et  principes,  qui  iura  per  pagos  vicosque  reddunt ;  centeni 
singulis  ex  plebe  comites  consilium  simul  et  auctoritas 
adsunt. 

Nihil  autem  neque  publicae  neque  privatae  rei  nisi  armati  13 
agunt.     Sed  arma  sumere  non  ante  cuiquam  moris,  quam 
civitas  suffecturum  probaverit.     Turn  in  ipso  concilio  vel 
principum  aliquis  vel  pater  vel  propinqui  scuto  frameaque 
iuvenem  ornant :  haec  apud  illos  toga,  hie  primus  iuventae  5 
honos ;   ante  hoc  domus  pars  videntur,  mox  rei  publicae. 
Insignis   nobilitas   aut   magna   patrum   merita   principis 
dignationem    etiam    adulescentulis    adsignant :     ceteris 
robustioribus  ac  iam  pridem  probatis  adgregantur,  nee 
rubor  inter  comites  adspici.     Gradus  quin  etiam  ipse  comi- 10 
tatus  habet,  iudicio  eius  quern  sectantur;    magnaque  et 
comitum  aemulatio,  quibus  primus  apud  principem  suum 
locus,  et  principum,  cui  plurimi  et  acerrimi  comites.     Haec 
dignitas,  hae  vires,  magno  semper  et  electorum  iuvenum 
globo  circumdari,  in  pace  decus,  in  bello  praesidium.     Nee  is 
solum  in  sua  gente  cuique,  sed  apud  fmitimas  quoque  civi- 
tates  id  nomen,  ea  gloria  est,  si  numero  ac  virtute  comita- 
tus  emineat ;  expetuntur  enim  legationibus  et  muneribus 
ornantur  et  ipsa  plerumque  fama  bella  profligant. 


8  CORNELII  TACITI 

14  Cum  ventum  in  aciem,  turpe  principi  virtute  vin 
turpe  comitatui  virtutem  principis  non  adaequare.     lam 
vero  infame  in  omnem  vitam  ac  probrosum  superstitem 
principi  suo  ex  acie  recessisse.     Ilium  defendere,  tueri, 

6  sua  quoque  f ortia  f acta  gloriae  eius  adsignare  praecipuum 
sacramentum  est.  Principes  pro  victoria  pugnant,  comites 
pro  principe.  Si  civitas,  in  qua  orti  sunt,  longa  pace  et 
otio  torpeat,  plerique  nobilium  adulescentium  petunt 
ultro  eas  nationes,  quae  turn  bellum  aliquod  gerunt,  quia 

10  et  ingrata  genti  quies  et  facilius  inter  ancipitia  clarescunt 
magnumque  comitatum  non  nisi  vi  belloque  tueare ;  exi- 
gunt  enim  principis  sui  liberalitate  ilium  bellatorem 
equum,  illam  cruentam  victricemque  frameam.  Nam 
epulae  et  quamquam  incompti,  largi  tamen  apparatus  pro 

isstipendio  cedunt.  Materia  munificentiae  per  bella  et 
raptus.  Nee  arare  terrain  aut  exspectare  annum  tarn 
facile  persuaseris  quam  vocare  hostem  et  vulnera  mereri. 
Pigrum  quin  immo  et  iners  videtur  sudore  adquirere 
quod  possis  sanguine  parare. 

15  Quotiens  bella  non  ineunt,  non  multum  venatibus,  plus 
per  otium  transigunt,  dediti  somno  ciboque,  fortissimus 
quisque  ac  bellicosissimus    nihil  agens,  delegata    domus 
et  penatium  et  agrorum  cura  feminis  senibusque  et  in- 

5  firmissimo  cuique  ex  familia ;  ipsi  hebent,  mira  diversitate 
naturae,  cum  idem  homines  sic  ament  inertiam  et  oderint 
quietem.  Mos  est  civitatibus  ultro  ac  viritim  conferre 
principibus  vel  armentorum  vel  frugum,  quod  pro  honore 
acceptum  etiam  necessitatibus  subvenit.  Gaudent  prae- 
lOcipue  finitimarum  gentium  donis,  quae  non  modo  a 
singulis,  sed  et  publice  mittuntur,  electi  equi,  magna 
arma,  phalerae  torquesque;  iam  et  pecuniam  accipere 
docuimus. 


GERMANIA  9 

Nullas  Germanorum  populis  urbes  habitari  satis  notum  16 
est,  ne  pati  quidem  inter  se  iunctas  sedes.     Colunt  discreti 
ac  diversi,  ut  fons,  ut  campus,  ut  nemus  placuit.     Vieos 
locant  non  in  nostrum  morem  conexis  et  cohaerentibus 
aedificiis :    suam  quisque  domum  spatio  circumdat,  sive  5 
adversus  casus  ignis  remedium  sive  inscitia  aedificandi. 
Ne  caementorum  quidem  apud  illos  aut  tegularum  usus : 
materia  ad  omnia  utuntur  informi  et  citra  speciem  aut 
delectationem.     Quaedam  loca  diligentius  inlinunt  terra 
ita  pura  ac  splendente,  ut  picturam  ac  lineamenta  colorum  10 
imitetur.     Solent  et  subterraneos  specus  aperire  eosque 
multo  insuper  fimo  onerant,  suffugium  hiemis  et  recep- 
taculum  frugibus,  quia  rigorem  frigorum  eius  modi  loci 
molliunt,  et  si  quando  hostis  advenit,  aperta  populatur, 
abdita  autem  et  defossa  aut  ignorantur  aut  eo  ipso  fallunt,  15 
quod  quaerenda  sunt. 

Tegumen  omnibus  sagum  fibula  aut,   si  desit,   spinaiT 
consertum :    cetera  intecti  totos  dies  iuxta  focum  atque 
ignem   agunt.     Locupletissimi   veste   distinguuntur,   non 
fluitante,  sicut  Sarmatae  ac  Parthi,  sed  stricta  et  singulos 
artus    exprimente.     Gerunt    et   ferarum    pelles,    proximis 
ripae  neglegenter,  ulteriores  exquisitius,  ut  quibus  nullus 
per  commercia  cultus.     Eligunt  feras  et  detracta  velamina 
spargunt    maculis    pellibusque    beluarum,    quas    exterior 
Oceanus  atque  ignotum  mare  gignit.     Nee  alius  feminis 
quam    viris    habitus,    nisi    quod    feminae    saepius    lineis  10 
amictibus  velantur  eosque  purpura  variant,   partemque 
vestitus    superioris    in    manicas    non    extendunt,    nudae 
brachia  ac  lacertos ;  sed  et  proxima  pars  pectoris  patet. 

Quamquam  severa  illic  matrimonia,  nee  ullam  morum  18 
partem  magis  laudaveris.     Nam  prope  soli  barbarorum 
singulis  uxoribus  contenti  sunt,  exceptis  admodum  paucis, 


10  CORNELII  TACITI 

qui   non   libidine,   sed   ob   nobilitatem   plurimis   nuptiis 

sambiuntur.  Dotem  non  uxor  marito,  sed  uxori  maritus 
offert.  Intersunt  parentes  et  propinqui  ac  munera  pro- 
•bant,  munera  non  ad  delicias  muliebres  quaesita  nee  quibus 
nova  nupta  comatur,  sed  boves  et  frenatum  equum  et 
scutum  cum  framea  gladioque.  In  haec  munera  uxor 

10  accipitur,  atque  in  vicem  ipsa  armorum  aliquid  viro  adfert : 
hoc  maximum  vinculum,  haec  arcana  sacra,  hos  coniugales 
deos  arbitrantur.  Ne  se  mulier  extra  virtutum  cogitationes 
extraque  bellorum  casus  putet,  ipsis  incipientis  matrimonii 
auspiciis  admonetur  venire  se  laborum  periculorumque 

iSsociam,  idem  in  pace,  idem  in  proelio  passuram  ausuram- 
que.  Hoc  iuncti  boves,  hoc  paratus  equus,  hoc  data 
arma  denuntiant.  Sic  vivendum,  sic  pereundum :  acci- 
pere  se,  quae  liberis  inviolata  ac  digna  reddat,  quae  nurus 
accipiant,  rursusque  ad  nepotes  referantur. 

19  Ergo  saepta  pudicitia  agunt,  nullis  spectaculorum 
inlecebris,  nullis  conviviorum  inritationibus  corruptae. 
Litterarum  secreta  viri  pariter  ac  feminae  ignorant. 
Paucissima  in  tarn  numerosa  gente  adulteria,  quorum 

5  poena  praesens  et  maritis  permissa :  abscisis  crinibus 
nudatam  coram  propinquis  expellit  domo  maritus  ac 
per  omnem  vicum  verbere  agit ;  publicatae  enim  pudicitiae 
nulla  venia :  non  forma,  non  aetate,  non  opibus  maritum 
invenerit.  Nemo  enim  illic  vitia  ridet,  nee  corrumpere 

10  et  corrumpi  saeculum  vocatur.  Melius  quidem  adhuc 
eae  civitates,  in  quibus  tantum  virgines  nubunt  et  cum 
spe  votoque  uxoris  semel  transigitur.  Sic  unum  accipiunt 
maritum  quo  modo  unum  corpus  unamque  vitam,  ne 
ulla  cogitatio  ultra,  ne  longior  cupiditas,  ne  tamquam 

15  maritum,  sed  tamquam  matrimonium  ament.  Numerum 
liberorum  finire  aut  quemquam  ex  adgnatis  necare  flagi- 


GERM  AN  IA  11 

tium  habetur,  plusque  ibi  boni  mores  valent  quam  alibi 
bonae  leges. 

In  omni  domo  nudi  ac  sordidi  in  hos  artus,  in  haec2O 
corpora,  quae  miramur,  excrescunt.     Sua  quemque  mater 
uberibus  alit,  nee  ancillis  ac  nutricibus  delegantur.     Domi- 
num    ac    servum    nullis    educationis    deliciis    dignoscas : 
inter  eadem  pecora,  in  eadem  humo  degunt,  donee  aetass 
separet     ingenuos,     virtus     adgnoscat.      Sera     iuvenum 
venus,  eoque  inexhausta  pubertas.     Nee  virgines  festinan- 
tur ;   eadem  iuventa,  similis  proceritas :   pares  validaeque 
miscentur,  ac  robora  parentum  liberi  referunt.     Sororum 
filiis  idem  apud  avunculum  qui  ad  patrem  honor.     Quidam  10 
sanctiorem  artioremque  hunc  nexum  sanguinis  arbitrantur 
et  in  accipiendis  obsidibus  magis  exigunt,  tamquam  et 
animum    firmius    et    domum    latius    teneant.     Heredes 
tamen  successoresque  sui  cuique  liberi,  et  nullum  testa- 
mentum.     Si  libe'ri  non  sunt,  proximus  gradus  in  posses-  15 
sione    fratres,    patrui,    avunculi.     Quanto    plus    propin- 
quorum,  quanto  maior  adfinium  numerus,  tanto  gratiosior 
senectus ;   nee  ulla  orbitatis  pretia. 

Suscipere    tarn    inimicitias    seu    patris    seu    propinqui  21 
quam  amicitias  necesse  est ;    nee  implacabiles  durant : 
luitur    enim    etiam    homicidium    certo    armentorum    ac 
pecorum  numero  recipitque  satisfactionem  universa  domus, 
utiliter  in  publicum,  quia  periculosiores  sunt  inimicitiaes 
iuxta  libertatem. 

Convictibus  et  hospitiis  non  alia  gens  effusius  indulget. 
Quemcumque  mortalium  arcere  tecto  nefas  habetur; 
pro  fortuna  quisque  apparatis  epulis  excipit.  Cum  de- 
fecere,  qui  modo  hospes  fuerat,  monstrator  hospitii  et  10 
comes;  proximam  domum  non  invitati  adeunt.  Nee 
interest :  pari  humanitate  accipiuntur.  Notum  ignotum- 


12  CORNELII  TACITI 

que  quantum  ad  ius  hospitis  nemo  discernit.  Abeunti, 
si  quid  poposcerit,  concedere  moris ;  et  poscendi  in  vicem 
iseadem  facilitas.  Gaudent  muneribus,  sed  nee  data  im- 
putant  nee  acceptis  obligantur:  victus  inter  hospites 
comis. 

22  Statim  e  somno,  quern  plerumque  in  diem  extrahunt, 
lavantur,  saepius  calida,  ut  apud  quos  plurimum  hiems 
occupat.     Lauti  cibum  capiunt :   separatae  singulis  sedes 
et  sua  cuique  mensa.     Turn  ad  negotia  nee  minus  saepe 

5  ad  convivia  procedunt  armati.  Diem  noctemque  continu- 
are  potando  nulli  probrum.  Crebrae,  ut  inter  vinolentos, 
rixae  raro  conviciis,  saepius  caede  et  vulneribus  transigun- 
tur.,  Sed  et  de  reconciliandis  in  vicem  inimicis  et  iun- 
gendis  adfinitatibus  et  adsciscendis  principibus,  de  pace 

10  denique  ac  bello  plerumque  in  conviviis  consultant,  tam- 
quam  nullo  magis  tempore  aut  ad  simplices  cogitationes 
pateat  animus  aut  ad  magnas  incalescat.  Gens  non  astuta 
nee  callida  aperit  adhuc  secreta  pectoris  licentia  ioci; 
ergo  detecta  et  nuda  omnium  mens.  Postera  die  retrac- 

15  tatur,  et  salva  utriusque  temporis  ratio  est :  deliberant, 
dum  fingere  nesciunt,  constituunt,  dum  errare  non  possunt. 

23  Potui   umor   ex   hordeo    aut   frumento,    in    quandam 
similitudinem   vini   corruptus :    proximi   ripae   et  vinum 
mercantur.     Cibi  simplices,  agrestia  poma,  recens  fera  aut 
lac  concretum  :  sine  apparatu,  sine  blandimentis  expellunt 

sfamem.  Adversus  sitim  non  eadem  temperantia.  Si 
indulseris  ebrietati  suggerendo  quantum  concupiscunt, 
baud  minus  facile  vitiis  quam  armis  vincentur. 

24  Genus  spectaculorum  unum  atque  in  omni  coetu  idem. 
Nudi  iuvenes,  quibus  id   ludicrum   est,  inter  gladios  se 
atque  infestas  frameas  saltu  iaciunt.     Exercitatio  artem 
paravit,  ars  decorem,  non  in  quaestum  tamen  aut  mer- 


GERMANIA  13 

cedem :    quamvis  audacis  lasciviae  pretium  est  voluptas  5 
spectantium.     Aleam,    quod    mirere,    sobrii    inter    seria 
exercent,  tanta  lucrandi  perdendive  temeritate,  ut,  cum 
omnia  defecerunt,  extreme  ac  novissimo  iactu  de  libertate 
ac  de  corpore  contendant.     Victus  voluntariam  servitutem 
adit :   quamvis  iuvenior,  quamvis  robustior  adligari  se  ac  10 
venire  patitur.     Ea  est  in  re  prava  pervicacia ;  ipsi  fidem 
vocant.     Servos  condicionis  huius  per  commercia  tradunt, 
ut  se  quoque  pudore  victoriae  exsolvant. 

Ceteris  sends  non  in  nostrum  morem,  descriptis  per  25 
familiam  ministeriis,  utuntur :   suam  quisque  sedem,  suos 
penates   regit.     Frumenti   modum   dominus   aut   pecoris 
aut  vestis  ut  colono  iniungit,  et  servus  hactenus  paret : 
cetera  domus  officia  uxor  ac  liberi  exsequuntur.     Ver-5 
berare  servum  ac  vinculis  et  opere  coercere  rarum :    oc- 
cidere  solent,  non  disciplina  et  severitate,  sed  impetu  et  ira, 
ut  inimicum,  nisi  quod  impune  est.     Liberti  non  multum 
supra   servos   sunt,    raro   aliquod  momentum   in   domo, 
numquam  in    civitate,   exceptis    dumtaxat    iis    gentibusio 
quae  regnantur.     Ibi  enim  et  super  ingenuos   et  super 
nobiles  ascendunt :    apud  ceteros  impares  libertini  liber- 
tatis  argumentum  sunt. 

Faenus  agitare  et  in  usuras  extendere  ignotum ;  ideoque  26 
magis  servatur  quam  si  vetitum  esset.     Agri  pro  numero 
cultorum  ab  universis  in  vices  occupantur,  quos  mox  inter 
se  secundum   dignationem   partiuntur;    facilitatem  par- 
tiendi    camporum    spatia    praestant.     Arva    per    annoss 
mutant,   et  superest  ager.     Nee  enim  cum  ubertate  et 
amplitudine  soli  labore  contendunt,  ut  pomaria  conserant 
et  prata  separent  et  hortos  rigent :   sola  terrae  seges  im- 
peratur.     Vnde   annum   quoque   ipsum   non  in   totidem 
digerunt    species :    hiems    et   ver   et   aestas   intellectum  10 


14  CORNELII  TACITI 

ac  vocabula  habent,  autumni  perinde  nomen    ac   bona 
ignorantur. 

27  Funerum    nulla    ambitio :     id    solum    observatur,    ut 
corpora  clarorum  virorum  certis  lignis  crementur.     Struem 
rogi  nee  vestibus  nee  odoribus  cumulant :  sua  cuique  arma, 
quorundam  igni  et  equus   adicitur.     Sepulcrum   caespes 

5  erigit :  monumentorum  arduum  et  operosum  honorem  ut 
gravem  defunctis  aspernantur.     Lamenta  ac  lacrimas  cito, 
dolorem  et  tristitiam  tarde  ponunt.     Feminis  lugere  hones- 
turn  est,  viris  meminisse. 

Haec  in  commune  de  omnium  Germanorum  origine  ac 
10  moribus  accepimus :    nunc  singularum  gentium  instituta 
ritusque,  quatenus  differant,  quae  nationes  e  Germania 
in  Gallias  commigraverint,  expediam. 

28  Validiores  olim  Gallorum  res  fuisse  summus  auctorum 
divus  lulius  tradit ;    eoque  credibile  est  etiam  Gallos  in 
Germaniam   transgresses :     quantulum   enim   amnis   ob- 
stabat  quo  minus,  ut  quaeque  gens  evaluerat,  occuparet 

6  permutaretque  sedes  promiscuas  adhuc  et  nulla  regnorum 
potentia  divisas  ?     Igitur  inter  Hercyniam  silvam  Rhenum- 
que  et  Moenum  amnes  Helvetii,  ulteriora  Boii,  Gallica 
utraque  gens,  tenuere.     Manet  adhuc  Boihaemi  nomen 
significatque   loci   veterem   memoriam   quamvis   mutatis 

10  cultoribus.  Sed  utrum  Aravisci  in  Pannoniam  ab  Osis, 
Germanorum  natione,  an  Osi  ab  Araviscis  in  Germaniam 
commigraverint,  cum  eodem  adhuc  sermone  institutis 
moribus  utantur,  incertum  est,  quia  pari  olim  inopia 
ac  libertate  eadem  utriusque  ripae  bona  malaque  erant. 

15  Treveri  et  Nervii  circa  adfectationem  Germanicae  originis 
ultro  ambitiosi  sunt,  tamquam  per  hanc  gloriam  sanguinis 
a  similitudine  et  inertia  Gallorum  separentur.  Ipsam 
Rheni  ripam  haud  dubie  Germanorum  populi  colunt, 


GERMANIA  15 

Vangiones,  Triboci,  Nemetes.     Ne  Ubii  quidem,  quam- 
quam  Romana  colonia  esse  meruerint  ac  libentius  Agrip-20 
pinenses  conditoris  sui  nomine   vocentur,  origine  erube- 
scunt,  transgress!  olim  et  experimento  fidei  super  ipsam 
Rheni  ripam  conlocati,  lit  arcerent,  non  ut  custodirentur. 

Omnium  harum  gentium  virtute  praecipui  Batavi  non  29 
multum  ex  ripa,  sed  insulam  Rheni  amnis  colunt,  Chat- 
torum  quondam  populus  et  seditione   domestica  in  eas 
sedes  transgressus,  in  quibus  pars  Romani  imperii  fierent. 
Manet  honos  et  antiquae  societatis  insigne ;    nam  nee  5 
tributis  contemnuntur  nee  publicanus  atterit;    exempti 
oneribus  et  conlationibus  et  tantum  in  usum  proeliorum 
sepositi,  velut   tela   atque  arma,  bellis  reservantur.     Est 
in  eodem  obsequio  et  Mattiacorum  gens ;   protulit  enim 
magnitude  populi  Romani  ultra  Rhenum  ultraque  veteres  10 
terminos   imperii   reverentiam.     Ita    sede    finibusque    in 
sua  ripa,  mente  animoque  nobiscum  agunt,  cetera  similes 
Batavis,  nisi  quod  ipso  adhuc  terrae  suae  solo  et  caelo 
acrius  animantur. 

Non  numeraverim  inter  Germaniae  populos,  quamquam  15 
trans  Rhenum  Danuviumque  consederint,  eos  qui  de- 
cumates  agros  exercent.  Levissimus  quisque  Gallorum  et 
inopia  audax  dubiae  possessionis  solum  occupavere ;  mox 
limite  acto  promotisque  praesidiis  sinus  imperii  et  pars 
provinciae  habentur.  20 

Ultra  hos  Chatti  initium  sedis  ab  Hercynio  saltu  inco-30 
hant,  non  ita  effusis  ac  palustribus  locis,  ut  ceterae  civi- 
tates,    in    quas    Germania    patescit;     durant    siquidem 
colles,  paulatim  rarescunt,  et  Chattos  suos  saltus  Hercynius 
prosequitur  simul  atque  deponit.     Duriora  genti  corpora,  5 
stricti  artus,  minax  vultus  et  maior  animi  vigor.     Multum, 
ut   inter   Germanos,    rationis   ac   sollertiae :    praeponere 


16  CORNELII  TACITI 

electos,  audire  praepositos,  nosse  ordines,  intellegere  oc- 
casiones,  differre  impetus,  disponere  diem,  vallare  noctem, 

lofortunam  inter  dubia,  virtutem  inter  certa  numerare, 
quodque  rarissimum  nee  nisi  ratione  disciplinae  conces- 
sum,  plus  reponere  in  duce  quam  in  exercitu.  Omne  robur 
in  pedite,  quern  super  arma  ferramentis  quoque  et  copiis 
onerant :  alios  ad  proelium  ire  videas,  Chattos  ad  bellum. 

isRari  excursus  et  fortuita  pugna.  Equestrium  sane 
virium  id  proprium,  cito  parare  victoriam,  cito  cedere : 
velocitas  iuxta  formidinem,  cunctatio  propior  constantiae 
est. 

31  Et  aliis  Germanorum  populis  usurpatum  raro  et  privata 
cuiusque  audentia  apud  Chattos  in  consensum  vertit,  ut 
primum  adoleverint,  crinem  barbamque  submittere,  nee 
nisi  hoste   caeso   exuere   votivum   obligatumque   virtuti 

soris  habitum.  Super  sanguinem  et  spolia  revelant  fron- 
tem,  seque  turn  demum  pretia  nascendi  rettulisse  dignos- 
que  patria  ac  parentibus  ferunt :  ignavis  et  imbellibus 
manet  squalor.  Fortissimus  quisque  ferreum  insuper 
anulum  (ignominiosum  id  genti)  velut  vinculum  gestat, 

10  donee  se  caede  hostis  absolvat.  Plurimis  Chattorum  hie 
placet  habitus,  iamque  canent  insignes  et  hostibus  simul 
suisque  monstrati.  Omnium  penes  hos  initia  pugnarum ; 
haec  prima  semper  acies,  visu  nova;  nam  ne  in  pace 
quidem  vultu  mitiore  mansuescunt.  Nulli  domus  aut 

15  ager  aut  aliqua  cura :  prout  ad  quemque  venere,  aluntur, 
prodigi  alieni,  contemptores  sui,  donee  exsanguis  senectus 
tarn  durae  virtuti  impares  faciat. 

32  Proximi  Chattis  certum  iam  alveo  Rhenum,   quique 
terminus  esse  sufficiat,  Usipi  ac  Tencteri  colunt.     Tencteri 
super  solitum  bellorum  decus  equestris  disciplinae   arte 
praecellunt;     nee    maior    apud    Chattos    peditum    laus 


GERMANIA  17 

quam  Tencteris  equitum.     Sic  instituere  maiores ;  poster!  5 
imitantur.     Hi  lusus  infantium,  haec  iuvenum  aemulatio  : 
perse verant   senes.     Inter   familiam   et   penates   et   iura 
successionum  equi  traduntur :  excipit  filius,  non  ut  cetera, 
maximus  natu,  sed  prout  ferox  bello  et  melior. 

luxta    Tencteros    Bructeri    olim    occurrebant :     nunc  33 
Chamavos    et    Angrivarios    inmigrasse    narratur,    pulsis 
Bructeris  ac  penitus  excisis  vicinarum  consensu  nationum, 
seu   superbiae   odio   seu    praedae    dulcedine    seu   favore 
quodam  erga  nos  deorum ;    nam  ne  spectaculo  quidem  5 
proelii  invidere.     Super  sexaginta  milia  non  armis  telisque 
Romanis,  sed,  quod  magnificentius  est,  oblectationi  oculis- 
que    ceciderunt.      Maneat,    quaeso,    duretque    gentibus, 
si  non  amor  nostri,  at  certe  odium  sui,  quando  urgentibus 
imperil  fatis  nihil  iam  praestare  fortuna  maius  potest  10 
quam  hostium  discordiam. 

Angrivarios  et  Chamavos  a  tergo  Dulgubnii  et  Chasu-34 
arii  cludunt,  aliaeque  gentes  baud  perinde  memoratae,  a 
fronte  Frisii  excipiunt.     Maioribus  minoribusque   Frisiis 
vocabulum  est  ex  modo  virium.     Utraeque  nationes  usque 
ad  Oceanum  Rheno  praetexuntur,  ambiuntque  inmensoss 
insuper  lacus  et   Romanis   classibus  navigatos.     Ipsum 
quin  etiam    Oceanum  ilia    temptavimus :    et   superesse 
adhuc    Herculis    columnas    fama    vulgavit,   sive   adiit 
Hercules,  seu  quidquid  ubique  magnificum  est,  in   clari- 
tatem    eius    referre   consensimus.     Nee  defuit  audentiaio 
Druso  Germanico,  sed  obstitit  Oceanus  in  se  simul  atque 
in  Herculem  inquiri.     Mox  nemo  temptavit,  sanctiusque 
ac  reverentius  visum  de  actis  deorum  credere  quam  scire. 

Hactenus    in    occidentem    Germaniam    novimus ;     in  35 
septentrionem  ingenti  flexu  redit.     Ac  primo  statim  Chau- 
corum  gens,  quamquam  incipiat  a  Frisiis  ac  partem  litoris 
c 


18  CORNELII  TACITI 

occupet,  omnium  quas  exposui  gentium  lateribus  obtendi- 
5tur,  donee  in  Chattos  usque  sinuetur.  Tarn  inmensum 
terrarum  spatium  non  tenent  tantum  Chauci,  sed  et  im- 
plent,  populus  inter  Germanos  nobilissimus,  quique  mag- 
nitudinem  suam  malit  iustitia  tueri.  Sine  cupididate, 
sine  impotentia,  quieti  secretique  nulla  provocant  bella, 
10  nullis  raptibus  aut  latrociniis  populantur.  Id  praecipuum 
virtutis  ac  virium  argumentum  est,  quod,  ut  superiores 
agant,  non  per  iniurias  adsequuntur ;  prompta  tamen 
omnibus  arma  ac,  si  res  poscat,  exercitus,  plurimum  viro- 
rum  equorumque ;  et  quiescentibus  eadem  fama. 

36  In  latere  Chaucorum  Chattorumque  Cherusci  nimiam 
ac  marcentem  diu  pacem  inlacessiti  nutrierunt :  idque  iu- 
cundius  quam  tutius  fuit,  quia  inter  impotentes  et  validos 
falso  quiescas :    ubi  manu  agitur,  modestia  ac  probitas 

snomina  superioris  sunt.  Ita  qui  olim  boni  aequique 
Cherusci,  nunc  inertes  ac  stulti  vocantur :  Chattis  victori- 
bus  fortuna  in  sapientiam  cessit.  Tracti  ruina  Cherusco- 
rum  et  Fosi,  contermina  gens.  Adversarum  rerum  ex 
aequo  socii  sunt,  cum  in  secundis  minores  fuissent. 

37  Eundem    Germaniae    sinum    proximi    Oceano    Cimbri 
tenent,  parva  nunc  civitas,  sed  gloria  ingens.     Veterisque 
famae  lata  vestigia  manent,  utraque  ripa  castra  ac  spatia, 
quorum  ambitu  nunc  quoque  metiaris  molem  manusque 

Sgentis  et  tarn  magni  exitus  fidem.  Sescentesimum  et 
quadragesimum  annum  urbs  nostra  agebat,  cum  primum 
Cimbrorum  audita  sunt  arma,  Caecilio  Metello  et 
Papirio  Carbone  consulibus.  Ex  quo  si  ad  alterum  im- 
peratoris  Traiani  consulatum  computemus,  ducenti 
10  ferme  et  decem  anni  colliguntur :  tarn  diu  Germania  vin- 
citur.  Medio  tarn  longi  aevi  spatio  multa  in  vicem  damna. 
Non  Samnis,  non  Poem,  non  Hispaniae  Galliaeve,  ne 


GERMANIA  19 

Parthi  quidem  saepius  admonuere :    quippe    regno  Ar- 
sacis  acrior  est  Germanorum  libertas.     Quid  enim  aliud 
nobis  quam  caedem  Crassi,  amisso  et  ipse  Pacoro,  infra  15 
Ventidium  deiectus  Oriens  obiecerit?     At  Germani  Car- 
bone  et  Cassio  et  Scauro  Aurelio  et  Servilio  Caepione 
Gnaeoque  Mallio  fusis  vel  captis  quinque  simul  consularis 
exercitus  populo  Romano,  Varum  trisque  cum  eo  legiones 
etiam  Caesari  abstulerunt;    nee  impune  C.   Marius  in  20 
Italia,  divus  lulius  in  Gallia,  Drusus  ac  Nero  et  Germani- 
cus  in  suis  eos  sedibus  perculerunt.     Mox  ingentes  Gai 
Caesaris  minae  in  ludibrium  versae.     Inde  otium,  donee 
occasione  discordiae  nostrae  et  civilium  armorum  expug- 
natis  legionum   hibernis  etiam  Gallias   adfectavere ;    ac  25 
rursus  inde  pulsi  proximis  temporibus  triumphati  magis 
quam  victi  sunt. 

Nunc  de  Suebis  dicendum  est,  quorum  non  una,  ut  38 
Chattorum  Tencterorumve,  gens ;    maiorem  enim  Ger- 
maniae    partem    obtinent,    propriis    adhuc    nationibus 
nominibusque   discreti,    quamquam    in    commune    Suebi 
vocentur.     Insigne    gentis    obliquare     crinem     nodoques 
substringere :  sic  Suebi  a  ceteris  Germanis,  sic  Sueborum 
ingenui  a  servis  separantur.     In  aliis  gentibus  seu  cog- 
natione  aliqua  Sueborum  seu,  quod  saepe  accidit,  imita- 
tione,  rarum  et  intra  iuventae  spatium ;    apud  Suebos 
usque  ad  canitiem  horrentem  capillum  retro  sequuntur.  10 
Ac  saepe  in  ipso  vertice  religatur ;  principes  et  ornatiorem 
habent.     Ea  cura  formae,  sed  innoxia ;    neque  enim  ut 
ament  amenturve,  in  altitudinem  quandam  et  terrorem 
adituri  bella  compti,  ut  hostium  oculis,  armantur. 

Vetustissimos  se  nobilissimosque  Sueborum  Semnones39 
memorant;    fides  antiquitatis  religione  firmatur.     Stato 
tempore  in  silvam  auguriis  patrum  et  prisca  formidine 


20  CORNELII  TACITI 

sacram  omnes  eiusdem  sanguinis  populi  legationibus 
scoeunt  caesoque  publice  homine  celebrant  barbari  ritus 
horrenda  primordia.  Est  et  alia  luco  reverentia :  nemo 
nisi  vinculo  ligatus  ingreditur,  ut  minor  et  potestatem 
numinis  prae  se  ferens.  Si  forte  prolapsus  est,  attolli  et 
insurgere  baud  licitum  :  per  humum  evolvuntur.  Eoque 

loomnis  superstitio  respicit,  tamquam  inde  initia  gentis, 
ibi  regnator  omnium  deus,  cetera  subiecta  atque  parentia. 
Adicit  auctoritatem  fortuna  Semnonum :  centum  pagi  iis 
habitantur  magnoque  corpore  efficitur  ut  se  Sueborum 
caput  credant. 

4O  Contra  Langobardos  paucitas  nobilitat :  plurimis  ac 
valentissimis  nationibus  cincti  non  per  obsequium,  sed 
proeliis  ac  periclitando  tuti  sunt.  Reudigni  deinde  et 
Aviones  et  Anglii  et  Varini  et  Eudoses  et  Suardones  et 
5  Nuithones  fluminibus  aut  silvis  muniuntur.  Nee  quicquam 
notabile  in  singulis,  nisi  quod  in  commune  Nerthum,  id  est 
Terrain  matrem,  colunt  eamque  intervenire  rebus  tominum, 
invehi  populis  arbitrantur.  Est  in  insula  Oceani  castum 
nemus,  dicatumque  in  eo  vehiculum,  veste  contectum ; 

loattingere  uni  sacerdoti  concessum.  Is  adesse  penetrali 
deam  intellegit  vectamque  bubus  feminis  multa  cum  vene- 
ratione  prosequitur.  Laeti  tune  dies,  festa  loca,  quaecum- 
que  adventu  hospitioque  dignatur.  Non  bella  ineunt, 
non  arma  sumunt ;  clausum  omne  ferrum ;  pax  et  quies 

15  tune  tantum  nota,  tune  tantum  amata,  donee  idem  sacer- 
dos  satiatam  conversatione  mortalium  deam  templo 
reddat.  Mox  vehiculum  et  vestes  et,  si  credere  velis, 
numen  ipsum  secreto  lacu  abluitur.  Servi  ministrant, 
quos  statim  idem  lacus  haurit.  Arcanus  hinc  terror 

20sanctaque  ignorantia,  quid  sit  illud,  quod  tantum  perituri 
vident. 


GERMANIA  21 

Et  haec  quidem  pars  Sueborum  in  secretiora  Germaniae  41 
porrigitur.     Propior,  ut,  quo  modo  paulo  ante  Rhenum, 
sic  nunc  Danuvium  sequar,  Hermundurorum  civitas,  fida 
Romanis;   eoque  solis  Germanorum  non  in  ripa  commer- 
cium,  sed  penitus  atque  in  splendidissima  Raetiae  pro- 5 
vinciae  colonia.     Passim  et  sine  custode  transeunt;    et 
cum  ceteris  gentibus  arma  modo  castraque  nostra  ostenda- 
mus,  his  domos  villasque  patefecimus  non  concupiscenti- 
bus.     In    Hermunduris    Albis    oritur,    flumen    inclutum 
et  notum  olim ;  nunc  tantum  auditur.  10 

luxta  Hermunduros  Naristi  ac  deinde  Marcomani  et42 
Quadi  agunt.     Praecipua  Marcomanorum  gloria  viresque, 
atque  ipsa  etiam  sedes  pulsis  olim  Boiis  virtute  parta. 
Nee    Naristi    Quadive    degenerant.     Eaque    Germaniae 
velut   frons   est,   quatenus   Danuvio   peragitur.     Marco- 5 
manis    Quadisque   usque   ad    nostram   memoriam   reges 
mansere  ex  gente  ipsorum,  nobile  Marobodui  et  Tudri 
genus :    iam  et  externos  patiuntur,  sed  vis  et  potentia 
regibus    ex    auctoritate    Romana.     Raro    armis    nostris, 
saepius  pecunia  iuvantur,  nee  minus  valent.  10 

Retro  Marsigni,  Cotini,  Osi,  Buri  terga  Marcomanorum  43 
Quadorumque    claudunt.     E    quibus    Marsigni    et    Buri 
sermone    cultuque    Suebos    referunt :     Cotinos    Gallica, 
Osos  Pannonica  lingua  coarguit  non  esse  Germanos,  et 
quod  tributa  patiuntur.     Partem  tributorum  Sarmatae,5 
partem  Quadi  ut  alienigenis  imponunt :  Cotini,  quo  magis 
pudeat,  et  ferrum  effodiunt.     Omnesque  hi  populi  pauca 
campestrium,  ceterum  saltus  et  vertices  montium  iugumque 
insederunt.     Dirimit  enim  scinditque  Suebiam  continuum 
montium  iugum,  ultra  quod  plurimae  gentes  agunt,   exio 
quibus  latissime  patet  Lygiorum  nomen  in  plures  civitates 
diffusum.     Valentissimas     nominasse     sufficiet,     Harios, 


22  CORNELII   TACITI 

Helveconas,    Manimos,    Helisios,    Nahanarvalos.    Apud 
Nahanarvalos  antiquae  religionis  lucus  ostenditur.    Prae- 

issidet  sacerdos  muliebri  ornatu,  sed  deos  interpretatione 
Romana  Castorem  Pollucemque  memorant.  Ea  vis 
numini,  nomen  Alcis.  Nulla  simulacra,  nullum  pere- 
grinae  superstitionis  vestigium;  ut  fratres  tamen,  ut 
iuvenes  venerantur.  Ceterum  Harii  super  vires,  quibus 

20  enumerates  paulo  ante  populos  antecedunt,  truces  in- 
sitae  feritati  arte  ac  tempore  lenocinantur :  nigra  scuta, 
tincta  corpora;  atras  ad  proelia  noctes  legunt  ipsaque 
formidine  atque  umbra  feralis  exercitus  terrorem  in- 
ferunt,  nullo  hostium  sustinente  novum  ac  velut  infer- 

25num  adspectum;  nam  primi  in  omnibus  proems  oculi 
vincuntur. 

Trans  Lygios  Gotones  regnantur,  paulo  iam  adductius 
quam  ceterae  Germanorum  gentes,  nondum  tamen  supra 
libertatem.  Protinus  deinde  ab  Oceano  Rugii  et  Lemovii ; 

soomniumque  harum  gentium  insigne  rotunda  scuta,  breves 
gladii  et  erga  reges  obsequium. 

44  Suionum  hinc  civitates  ipso  in  Oceano  praeter  viros 
armaque  classibus  valent.  Forma  navium  eo  differ t, 
quod  utrimque  prora  paratam  semper  adpulsui  frontem 
agit.  Nee  velis  ministrantur  nee  remos  in  ordinem  lateri- 
5  bus  adiungunt :  solutum,  ut  in  quibusdam  fluminum, 
et  mutabile,  ut  res  poscit,  hinc  vel  illinc  remigium.  Est 
apud  illos  et  opibus  honos,  eoque  unus  imperitat,  nullis 
iam  exceptionibus,  non  precario  iure  parendi.  Nee  arma, 
ut  apud  ceteros  Germanos,  in  promiscuo,  sed  clausa  sub 

locustode,  et  quidem  servo,  quia  subitos  hostium  incursus 
prohibet  Oceanus,  otiosae  porro  armatorum  manus  facile 
lasciviunt.  Enimvero  neque  nobilem  neque  ingenuum, 
ne  libertinum  quidem  armis  praeponere  regia  utilitas  est. 


GERMANIA  23 

Trans  Suionas  aliud  mare,  pigrum  ac  prope  inmotum,  45 
quo  cingi  cludique  terrarum  orbem  hinc  fides,  quod  extre- 
mus  cadentis  iam  soils  fulgor  in  ortus  edurat  adeo  clarus, 
ut    sidera    hebetet;     sonum    insuper    emergentis    audiri 
formasque  equorum  et  radios  capitis  adspici  persuasios 
adicit.     Illuc  usque  (et  fama  vera)  tantum  natura.     Ergo 
iam  dextro  Suebicimaris  litore  Aestiorum  gentes  adluuntur, 
quibus   ritus   habitusque   Sueborum,   lingua   Britannicae 
propior.     Matrem   deum   venerantur.     Insigne   supersti- 
tionis  formas  aprorum  gestant :   id  pro  armis  omniumque  10 
tutela  securum  deae  cultorem  etiam  inter  hostis  praestat. 
Rarus  ferri,  frequens  fustium  usus.     Frumenta  ceterosque 
fructus  patientius  quam  pro  solita  Germanorum  inertia 
laborant.     Sed    et    mare    scrutantur,    ac    soli    omnium 
sucinum,  quod  ipsi  glesum  vocant,  inter  vada  atque  in  15 
ipso  litore  legunt.     Nee  quae  natura,  quaeve  ratio  gignat, 
ut  barbaris,   quaesitum  compertumve;    diu  quin  etiam 
inter   cetera   eiectamenta   maris   iacebat,    donee   luxuria 
nostra  dedit  nomen.     Ipsis  in  nullo  usu ;    rude  legitur, 
informe  profertur,  pretiumque  mirantes  accipiunt.     Sucum  20 
tamen  arborum  esse  intellegas,   quia    terrena  quaedam 
atque    etiam    volucria   animalia    plerumque    interlucent, 
quae  implicata  umore  mox  durescente  materia  cluduntur. 
Fecundiora  igitur  nemora  lucosque  sicut  Orientis  secretis, 
ubi    tura    balsamaque    sudantur,    ita    Occidentis    insulis25 
terrisque  inesse  crediderim,  quae  vicini  solis  radiis  expressa 
atque  liquentia  in  proximum  mare  labuntur  ac  vi  tem- 
pestatum  in  adversa  litora  exundant.     Si  naturam  sucini 
admoto  igni  temptes,  in  modum  taedae  accenditur  alitque 
flammam  pinguem  et  olentem ;  mox  ut  in  picem  resinamve  30 
lentescit. 

Suionibus  Sitonum  gentes  continuantur.     Cetera  similes 


24  CORNELII   TACITI  GERMANIA 

uno  differunt,  quod  femina  dominatur;  in  tantum  non 
modo  a  libertate  sed  etiam  a  servitute  degenerant. 

46  Hie  Suebiae  finis.  Peucinorum  Venedorumque  et 
Fennorum  nationes  Germanis  an  Sarmatis  adscribam 
dubito,  quamquam  Peucini,  quos  quidam  Bastarnas 
vocant,  sermone,  cultu,  sede  ac  domiciliis  ut  Germani 
sagunt.  Sordes  omnium  ac  torpor  procerum;  conubiis 
mixtis  nonnihil  in  Sarmatarum  habitum  foedantur. 
Venedi  multum  ex  moribus  traxerunt ;  nam  quidquid  inter 
Peucinos  Fennosque  silvarum  ac  montium  erigitur  latro- 
ciniis  pererrant.  Hi  tamen  inter  Germanos  potius  re- 

10  feruntur,  quia  et  domos  figunt  et  scuta  gestant  et  pedum 
usu  ac  pernicitate  gaudent :  quae  omnia  diversa  Sarmatis 
sunt  in  plaustro  equoque  viventibus.  Fennis  mira  feritas, 
foeda  paupertas :  non  arma,  non  equi,  non  penates ; 
victui  herba,  vestitui  pelles,  cubile  humus :  solae  in 

15  sagittis  spes,  quas  inopia  ferri  ossibus  asperant.  Idemque 
venatus  viros  pariter  ac  feminas  alit ;  passim  enim  comi- 
tantur  partemque  praedae  petunt.  Nee-  aliud  infantibus 
ferarum  imbriumque  suffugium  quam  ut  in  aliquo  ramorum 
nexu  contegantur :  hue  redeunt  iuvenes,  hoc  senum  re- 

20  ceptaculum.  Sed  beatius  arbitrantur  quam  ingemere 
agris,  inlaborare  domibus,  suas  alienasque  fortunas  spe 
metuque  versare :  securi  adversus  homines,  securi  ad- 
versus  deos  rem  difficillimam  adsecuti  sunt,  ut  illis  ne  voto 
quidem  opus  esset.  Cetera  iam  fabulosa :  Hellusios  et 

25  Oxionas  ora  hominum  voltusque,  corpora  atque  artus 
ferarum  gerere :  quod  ego  ut  incompertum  in  medio 
relinquam. 


NOTES 

Chapter  1. 

The  boundaries  of  Germany ;  the  courses  of  the  Rhine  and  the 
Danube. 

1.  Germania  omnis  :  Germany  as  a  whole;  Tacitus  echoes  the 
opening  words  of  Caesar's  Bellum  Gallicum.     Germany  proper 
is  here  considered  as  a  geographical  unit  apart  from  the  Roman 
provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Germany,  which  were  situated 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  —  Raetisque  et  Pannoniis  :  these 
nouns,  connected  by  et,  stand  in  close  relation  as  the  second 
member  of  the  coordinate  series.     The  Raeti  inhabited  Eastern 
Switzerland,  the  Tyrol,  and  Southern  Bavaria. 

The  western  boundary  of  Pannonia  lay  somewhat  to  the  west 
of  Vienna ;  on  the  north  and  the  east  the  province  was  bordered 
by  the  Danube.  Between  Raetia  and  Pannonia  lay  Noricum, 
which  Tacitus  here  leaves  unmentioned. 

2.  Sarmatis :    peoples  containing  Slavic  elements  and  also 
possessing  racial  affinity  with  the  Medes  and  Persians ;    their 
domain  in  general  comprised  the  steppes  of  Russia  north  of  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  Caucasus  Mountains.     One  tribe,  the  lazyges, 
occupied  at  this  time  that  part  of  Hungary  that  lies  between 
the  Danube  and  the  Theiss.  —  Dacisque  :  a  Thracian  stock  which, 
a  decade  before  the  Germania  was  written,  had  inflicted  severe 
defeats  on  the  armies  of  Domitian ;   Transylvania  and  adjacent 
regions  were  included  in  Dacian  territory.  —  mutuo  metu  aut 
montibus :    a  striking  example  of  the  combination  of  concrete 
and  abstract  ideas ;  cf.  the  note  on  Agricola  25.  8.    This  usage  is 
favored  especially  by  Tacitus   and  the  poets  of  the  Empire ; 
one  of  the  earliest  instances  in  Latin  is  Plautus,  Rudens  436 : 
nostro  ilium  puteum  periclo  et  ferramentis  fodimus  ('  I  dug  that 
well  with  peril  to  my  sen3  and  with  iron  tools  ').     The  mountains 
referred  to  are  the  Carpathians. 

3.  Oceanus :    the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic.  —  sinus:    used 
here,  as  in  Agricola  23.  6  and  Germania  37.  1,  in  the  sense  of  a 
'  projection  of  the  land.' 

25 


26  NOTES 

4.  insularum :     including    the    Scandinavian    Peninsula,    re- 
garded for  centuries  after  Tacitus  as  an  island.  —  nuper  :  this  word 
may  be  extended  in  meaning  to  include  an  event  not  too  remote 
in  the  past ;   cf.  the  indefiniteness  of  our  expression  "  in  modern 
times  "  and  the  extensibility  of  such  Latin  words  as  antiquitus, 
vetus,  et.  cet.     See  note  on  Agricola  1.  2.     The  furthest  advance 
of  Roman  forces  in  these  regions  was  achieved  in  5  A.D.,  when 
an  expedition  under  the  command  of  Tiberius  penetrated  as  far 
as  the  Cattegat.    Roman  fleets  also  operated  along  the  German 
coast  of  the  North  Sea  in  12  B.C.  under   Drusus  and  in  15  and 
16   A.D.   under  Germanicus.  —  cognitis  .  .   .  gentibus :    a  loose 
ablative  absolute  construction,  added  to  justify  the  assertion 
made  with  reference  to  the  vast  extent  of  the  peninsulas  and 
islands. 

5.  aperuit :   cf .  the  similar  metaphor  in  Agricola  22.  1 :  tertius 
annus  .  .   .  novas  gentis  aperuit. 

6.  vertice  ortus :    the  Rhine  proper  is  actually  formed  by  the 
confluence   of    two    tributaries,    the   '  Hinter '    Rhine   and   the 
'  Vorder  '  Rhine,  which  rise  in  different  parts  of  the  Swiss  canton 
Grisons.     The  source  of  the  Vorder  Rhine  is  near  St.  Gotthard, 
ancient  Adula,  the  vertex  here  referred  to. 

7.  versus  :   a  participle,  reflexive  in  force. 

8.  molli  et  clementer  edito :    cf.  our  English  expression  "  a 
gentle  slope  " ;  there  is  a  contrast  with  inaccesso  ac  praecipiti. 

9.  Abnobae  :    the  name  applied  in  ancient  times  to  the  Black 
Forest.     The  source  of  the  Danube  is  on  the  eastern  slope. — 
pluris  :   here  equivalent  to  compluris. 

10.  donee  .  .  .  erumpat :    as  is  not  infrequent  in  late  Latin, 
donee  introduces  a  subjunctive  in  a  statement  of  fact  where 
classical  usage  would   demand   an   indicative.  —  septimum   os : 
almost  without  exception,  Greek  writers,  from  the  time  of  He- 
rodotus on,  assigned  five  mouths  to  the  Danube.     Among  the 
Romans,  traditional  computation  after  the  Augustan  age  declared 
for  seven,  which  the  fame  of  the  Nile  Delta  rendered  a  favored 
number  for  rivers'  mouths.     Thus  Vergil,  Aeneid  9.  30,  ascribes 
seven  outlets  to  the  Ganges.     As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Danube, 
before  entering  the  Black  Sea,   divides   into   three    branches, 
the  Kilia,  the    Sulina,  and   the  St.    George's;     the  Kilia  dis- 


NOTES  27 

charges  through  seven  channels  and  the  St.  George's  through 
two. 

11.    paludibus :   the  whole  delta  is  marshland  and  covers  an 
area  of  1000  sq.  m. 

Chapter  2. 

The  origin  of  the  German  race ;   its  reputed  progenitors ;   ex- 
tension of  the  name. 

1.  ipsos :  as  in  Agricola  13.  1,  the  pronoun  marks  a  transition 
from  physical  geography  to  peoples. 

2.  hospitiis :    as  a  result  of  relations  of  hospitality  (established 
with  non-German  peoples).  —  terra  :  zeugma  with  advehebantur  is 
involved ;   supply  adveniebant. 

3.  olim  :    in  primitive  times.  —  classibus  advehebantur  :   Taci- 
tus's  rejection  of  the  possibility  of  folk  migration  by  land  is,  of 
course,  out  of  keeping  with  the  facts  of  history.     He  had  espe- 
cially in  mind  the  mythological  traditions  as  to  the  wanderings  of 
the  peoples  of  the  Mediterranean  Basin,   e.g.   Greeks,   Trojans, 
and  Phoenicians. 

4.  ultra  :    used  attributively,  as  in  Agricola  30.  16 :  nulla  iam 
ultra  gens.     Translate :    beyond  the  limits  of  the  known  world.  — 
adversus  :    lying  over  against  us.     The  word  does  not  necessitate 
the  assumption  of  an  allusion  to  the  spherical  shape  of  the  earth, 
a  view  which  Tacitus  did  not  accept,  as  is  clear  from  Agricola  12. 
The  Ocean  is  in  imagination  transferred  to  a  separate  quarter  of 
the  earth  fronting  the  known  world ;   it  is  a  hyperbole  common 
among  Roman  writers  to  refer  to  a  remote  clime  as   '  another 
world  ' ;   Pliny,  Natural  History  4.   (27).  96 :  clarissima  est  Sca- 
dinavia   incompertae    magnitudinis   .   .    .   quae    (i.e.    Hillevionum 
gens)  allerum  orbem  terrarum  earn  appellat  ('  most  famous  (of  these 
islands)  is  Scadinavia,  (a  land)  of  unknown  vastness,  .  .  .  the 
race  of  the  Hilleviones  calls  it -another  world  ') ;    sometimes,  as 
in  this  passage,  the  boldness  of  the  conception  is  tempered  by  the 
insertion  of  a  limiting  word  or  clause ;   thus  Velleius  Paterculus, 
a  historian  of  the  time  of  Tiberius,  writes  in  2.  46.  1 :   cum  .  .  . 
in  Britanniam  traiecisset  exercitum,  alterum  paene  .  .  .  quaerens 
orbem  ('  when  ...  he  had  transported  his  army  to  Britain,  in 
quest  of  what  is  well  nigh  another  world  '). 


28  NOTES 

7.  informem :  lit.  shapeless,  hence  here  applied  to  the  savage 
aspect  of  an  uncultivated  land.     The  Romans  had  little  taste  for 
the  picturesque  and  the  wild  in  natural  scenery. 

8.  tristem  cultu  adspectuque  :  gloomy  to  dwell  in  and  to  view.  — 
nisi  si  patria  sit :  an  oft-repeated  sentiment ;  cf.  Cicero,  De  Ami- 
cilia  68 :    consuetudo  valet,  cum  locis  ipsis  delectemur,  montuosis 
etiam  et  silvestribus,  in  quibus  diutius  commorati  sumus  ('  famil- 
iarity has  its  effect,  in  that  we  find  delight  in  the  very  country, 
mountainous  and  wooded  even  though  it  be,  in  which  we  have 
sojourned  a  longer  time   than   usual ') ;    James  Montgomery's 
lines : 

"  Man  through  all  ages  of  revolving  time, 
Unchanging  man  in  every  varying  clime, 
Deems  his  own  land  of  every  land  the  pride, 
Beloved  of  Heaven  o'er  all  the  world  beside." 

9.  carminibus  antiquis  :  sagas,  or  lays  dealing  with  the  geneal- 
ogies and  deeds  of  heroes,  such  as  preceded  prose  history  writing 
among    the   Greeks  and  probably  among  the  Romans.  —  quod 
unum  .  .  .  annalium  genus  :  in  the  case  of  the  Britons,  Tacitus 
was  unable  to  cite  explicitly  even  poetic  tradition  as  to  their 
origin;   cf.  Agricola  11.  2. 

10.  Tuistonem :  i.e.  '  the  twofold  one  ' ;  compare  Ger.  zwei, 
zwischen ;    Eng.  two.     He  may  have  been  conceived  of  as  bi- 
sexual ;     an    interesting,    though   not    a   complete,   analogy   is 
Cecrops,  mythical  founder  of  the  royal  line  of  Athens,  who,  as 
did  Tuisto,  sprang  from  the  earth  and  was  portrayed  as  biformis, 
half  man  and  half  serpent. 

11.  Mannum :   i.e.  '  the  thinking  creature,'  derived  from  the 
root  which  appears  in  Gk.  /U/UJ^O-KW,  Lat.  memini,  Ger.  Mensch, 
Eng.  man.    Mannus  was  thus  the  first  human  being  endowed  with 
the  power  of  thought.     There  is  reason  to  believe  that  we  have 
here  the  Germanic  offshoot  of  the  Indo-European  myth  of  the 
creation  of  man. 

12.  tris   filios :     three   sons   are   characteristic   of   the   third 
generation  in  mythical  genealogies ;    thus,  Uranus,  Cronus,  and 
Zeus,  Poseidon,   Pluto;    Deucalion   (the  Greek  Noah),  Hellen, 
and  Dorus,  Xuthus,  Aeolus.     We  may  recall  in  this  connection 
Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth,  the  "  three  sons  of  Noah  and  of  them 


NOTES  29 

was  the  whole  earth  overspread."  It  is  possible  that  Mannus 
was  the  Germanic  Noah.  —  e  quorum  nominibus  :  the  names  of 
these  eponymous  ancestors  have  been  reconstructed  as  Ingvas  or 
Ing,  Erminas  or  Irmin,  and  Istvas.  Note  the  alliteration  char- 
acteristic of  such  groups  of  gods  or  heroes  in  Germanic  myth. 
Around  each  of  the  three  centered  a  cult  group  consisting  of 
peoples  supposedly  united  by  ties  of  relationship  in  their  common 
descent  from  the  heroic  forefather.  In  the  process  of  religious 
development  the  worship  of  some  one  of  the  chief  gods  of  the 
German  pantheon  became  dominant  among  the  tribes  composing 
each  of  the  three  groups,  although  not  necessarily  restricted  to 
the  group  or  adopted  by  all  the  tribes  in  it.  Thus  the  cults  of 
Freyr  and  Tiu  flourished  especially  among  the  Ingaevones  and 
the  Henninones  respectively ;  the  worship  of  Wodan  had  its 
center  in  the  regions  occupied  by  the  Istaevones.  In  each  case 
the  original  eponymous  hero  tended  to  merge  with  the  personality 
of  the  greater  divinity  and  the  name  of  the  progenitor  to  become 
an  epithet  of  the  god. 

This  classification  into  three  races  does  not  pretend  to  be  com- 
plete and  is  not  utilized  by  Tacitus  in  his  detailed  discussion  of 
German  ethnology,  chap.  28  and  following.  Hence  it  should 
not  be  assumed  that  he  meant  to  imply  that  these  three  groups 
included  all  the  peoples  of  Germany.  He  is  concerned  here 
chiefly  with  the  mythical  genealogy  of  the  Germans  and  so 
singles  out  for  mention  these  three  divisions  as  being  those  which, 
according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Germans  themselves,  preserved 
in  their  names  proof  of  origin  from  the  sons  of  Mannus,  the  com- 
mon ancestor.  Therefore  he  deemed  it  necessary  to  locate  them 
only  roughly.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  classification  applies 
only  to  the  peoples  west  of  the  Oder.  Pliny,  Natural  History 
4.  (28).  99,  gives  a  more  comprehensive,  though  not  exhaustive, 
division  of  the  races  of  Germany,  in  which  he  adds  to  the  three 
groups  here  mentioned  the  Vandili  of  Northeastern  Germany 
and  the  Peucini  along  the  eastern  border. 

13.  Ingaevones :  Pliny's  transcription,  Ingvaeones,  is  closer 
to  the  original  German  than  the  spelling  of  Tacitus,  which  has 
been  modified  to  suit  Roman  vocal  organs.  Modern  scholars 
differ  as  to  the  transliteration  of  all  three  names. 


30  NOTES 

This  group  included  especially  the  inhabitants  of  the  Danish 
Peninsula,  e.g.  the  Cimbri  and  the  Teutons ;  the  Anglo-Saxons 
are  assigned  by  some  scholars  to  the  Ingaevones,  by  others  to  the 
Herminones.  Herminones  :  comprising  peoples  which  dwelt  on 
the  east  and  the  west  of  the  Upper  Elbe,  as  the  Langobardi,  the 
Semnones,  the  Chatti,  the  Cherusci,  and  the  Hermunduri. 
The  Hessians  and  the  Thuringians  of  later  times  sprang  from  this 
group. 

14.  Istaevones :     transliterated    more   accurately   by    Pliny, 
Istvaeones.     They    numbered    among    them    the    tribes   which 
occupied  the  territory  along  the  Lower  Rhine,  such  as  the  Sugam- 
bri,  Batavi,  Chamavi,  Ubii,  Usipi,  and  were  the  forefathers  of 
the  Franks  of  West  Germany  and  Holland. 

The  specimens  of  pottery  and  the  numerous  articles  of  bronze 
and  iron  work  which  have  been  unearthed  in  the  sepulchral 
mounds  found  in  the  regions  once  occupied  by  the  Istaevones 
and  the  Herminones,  indicate  that  the  latter  peoples  reached  a 
higher  degree  of  civilization  than  the  former.  The  Istaevones 
seem  deliberately  to  have  resisted  the  more  advanced  culture  of 
their  Celtic  neighbors.  —  quidam  :  Roman  scholars  and  writers, 
whose  views  are  continued  in  chap.  3.  —  ut  in  licentia  vetustatis  : 
as  is  to  be  expected  in  connection  with  the  freedom  of  opinion  attach- 
ing itself  to  matters  of  the  remote  past. 

15.  pluris  deo  ortos  :  a  much  discussed  passage,  best  explained 
as  follows:  more  (than  three)  descendants  of  the  god  (i.e.  Tuisto). — 
gentis  appellationes  :  race  names.     The  four  names  following  are 
cited  as  examples  only  and  are  not  intended  as  a  complete  list. 
We  may  be  certain  that  the  names  of  the  eponymous  ancestors 
not  mentioned  here  were  invented  by   Roman  authorities  or 
German  informants,  to  account  for  existing  tribal  names.     This 
was  the  usual  »tiological  practice  of  the  ancients ;   cf .  Hellenes, 
from  a  mythical  Hellen,  lonians  from  Ion.  —  Marsos :   a  branch 
of  the  Sugambri ;   they  suffered  severely  in  the  campaigns  waged 
by  Germanicus  in  14  A.D.  against  the  peoples  dwelling  near  the 
Lippe  and  thejluhr,  and  subsequently  dispersed  into  the  interior. 

16.  Gambrivios  :    they  also  lived  in  Western  Germany,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Cherusci  and  the  Chatti.     Kinship  with  the  Su- 
gambri is  indicated  by  the  presence  of  the  root  gambr-  in  both 


NOTES  31 

names.  —  Suebos  :  the  application  of  this  name  was  subject  to 
variation  on  the  part  of  Roman  writers.  As  used  here  by  Tacitus, 
it  embraces  the  Semnones,  Chatti,  and  other  tribes  of  Southern 
and  Western  Germany,  living  on  and  about  the  Elbe.  In  chap. 
38  we  shall  see  that  the  peoples  included  under  the  name  were 
much  more  widely  extended.  —  Vandilios  :  originally  applied, 
as  in  Pliny,  Natural  History  4.  (28).  99  and  in  this  passage,  to 
an  ethnic  division  comprising  many  peoples  of  Eastern  Germany, 
the  name,  in  its  later  form  Vandali,  was  restricted  to  the  tribe 
famous  in  the  period  of  the  Germanic  migrations  into  the  Empire. 
—  eaque  vera  .  .  .  nomina :  supply  esse;  the  indirect  discourse 
continues  to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

17.  ceterum:    whereas  (they  assert).     The  conjunction  intro- 
duces a  contrast  between  vera  et  antiqua  nomina  and  vocabulum 
recens  et  cet. 

18.  primi   Rhenum    transgress!    Gallos    expulerint :    in  close 
agreement  with    Caesar,   Bellum   Gallicum  2.  4.  1,  who  asserts 
that  most  of  the  Belgae  were  descended  from  Germanic  invaders 
who,  tempted  by  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  had  crossed  the  Rhine 
and   ejected   the   Celtic   inhabitants.     Antiquitus   is   the  word 
used  by  Caesar  to  define  the  date  of  this  migration ;  it  was  at 
least  prior  to  the  incursion  of  the  Cimbri  and  the  Teutons. 
The  Remi  furnished  Caesar  with  the  data  for  this  part  of  his 
narrative ;  however,  there  seems  to  be  no  ground  for  distrusting 
the  accuracy  of  the  account,  although  elsewhere  in  the  Gallic 
War  the  reliability  of  information  derived  from  native  sources  is 
open  to  question. 

19.  ac   nunc   Tungri,   tune   German! :    according  to   Caesar, 
Bellum  Gallicum  2.  4.  10,  a  confederation  of  four  tribes  of  Belgic 
Gaul,  the  Condrusi,  Eburones,  Caerosi,  and  Caemani,  bore  col- 
lectively the  name  Germani.      A  view  which  has  gained  wide 
acceptance  is  that  this  was  the  term  applied  by  the  Celts  to  the 
Teutonic  intruders.     Its  etymology  is  uncertain.     The  accuracy 
of  the  statement  of  Tacitus,  that  peoples  once  called  Germani 
were  in  his  time  known  as  Tungri,  is  substantiated  by  the  fact 
that,  in  the  first  century  of  the  Empire,  Tungri  occupied  the 
territory  adjacent  to  Aduatuca,  once  the  chief  city  of  Caesar's 
Eburones    (Germani),    and   later   called  Aduatuca  Tongrorum, 


32  NOTES 

surviving  in  modern   Tongres   near   Liesge.     Tungri   served  in 
Agricola's  army  in  Britain ;   cf .  Agricola  36.  5. 

20.  nationis  nomen  .  .  .  evaluisse :    in  history  instances  are 
plentiful  in  which  the  name  of  a  tribe  (the  sense  of  natio  here)  has 
been  extended  over  a  whole  race  or  people ;   cf .  the  extension  of 
the  name   Hellenes,  originally  a  Thessalian  tribe.     The  French 
word  Allemand  is  derived  from  the  name  of  a  single  race,  the 
Alamanni. 

21.  omnes :  the  main  body  of  the  Germans  who  still  remained 
in  their  own  domain  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine.  —  a  victore 
ob  metum :   the  original  Teutonic  invaders,  in  order  to  overawe 
the  conquered  Celts,  applied  the  name  bestowed  on  themselves 
to  their  compatriots  across  the  Rhine.     They  would  thus  inspire 
the  belief  among  the  Gauls  that  others  of  the  same  race  as  them- 
selves, hence  just  as  formidable  foemen,  stood  ready  to  cross  and 
assist  them  to  hold  what  they  had  gained.     This  interpretation 
of  a  difficult  passage  understands  ob  metum  in  an  active  sense,  as 
equivalent  to  ob  metum  iniciendum.  —  a  se  ipsis :  subsequently 
the   name   received    universal    sanction   among   the    Germans. 
Recall  that  it  is  the  view  of  Roman  critics  (quidam)  that  Tacitus 
is  still  expounding.     In  point  of  fact,  it  is  scarcely  credible  that 
at  this  period  the  Germans  had  adopted  for  themselves  any  col- 
lective  racial   designation,    comparable   to    the   later    Deutsch, 
which  became  established  in  the  eleventh  century  A.D.     It  was 
only  among  the  Romans  and  the  Gauls  that  the  generic  name 
Germani  had  currency. 

Chapter  3. 

Hercules  and  Ulysses  among  the  Germans ;  German  war- 
songs. 

1.  et :  the  Germans  had  various  native  heroes.  Hercules  also, 
a  hero  of  foreign  origin,  sojourned  among  them.  —  Herculem  :  in 
this  passage  Tacitus  has  blended  two  separate  ideas :  (1)  a  myth 
as  to  the  presence  in  Germany,  on  some  one  of  his  peregrinations, 
of  the  Hercules  of  Greek  and  Roman  mythology.  Similarly,  we 
are  informed  below  of  a  tradition  according  to  which  the  Greek 
Ulysses  penetrated  to  Germany.  (2)  Beginning  with  primum- 
gue,  Hercules  is  merged  in  the  German  god  Donar  or  Thor,  after 


NOTES  33 

the  fashion,  usual  with  Greek  and  Roman  writers,  of  identifying, 
on  the  basis  of  resemblances  in  attribute  or  function,  foreign 
divinities  with  gods  of  their  own  pantheon.  Thus  Caesar  found 
Mercury,  Apollo,  and  Mars  in  Gaul,  Bellum  Gallicum  6.  17. 

Hercules  and  Thor  both  fought  with  monsters,  both  were 
benefactors  of  mankind  ;  Thor's  weapon,  the  hammer,  suggested 
the  club  of  Hercules.  —  memorant :  alluding  to  Greek  or  Roman 
literary  sources.  —  primum :  the  original  hero  of  them  all. 

2.  canunt :  .the  subject  has  changed  abruptly. 

3.  haec  quoque  carmina :    mention  of  the  battle-hymn  cele- 
brating the  deeds  of  Donar  suggested  a  digression  dealing  with 
a  chant  of  a  different  type,  but  also  sung  as  a  prelude  to  the 
conflict.      Haec  =  talia.  —  relatu  :   by  the  rendition.  —  barditum  :    a 
Latinized  German  word,  the  etymology  of  which  is  uncertain. 
It  has  been  connected   with   bardhi,    '  shield,'   and   bard,   bart, 
'  beard,'  bartrede  being  an  imitation  of  the  hoarse  utterance  of 
Donar,  the  god  of  the  thunder. 

5.  ipso  cantu :    by  the  mere  sound,  irrespective  of  the  content 
of  the  song. 

6.  sonuit  acies :    cf.  the  description  of  the  attack  of  Civilis 
and  the  Batavi  on  the  Romans,  Historiae  4.  18  :  ut  virorum  cantu, 
feminarum  ululatu,  sonuit  acies  ('  while  the  line  resounded  with  the 
chanting  of  the  men  and  the  whoops  of  the  women ').  —  nee  tarn 
vocis  ille  quam  virtutis  concentus :   seek  to  render  the  rhetorical 
features  of  the  diction  by  some  such  translation  as :   a  harmony 
not  so  much  of  voices  as  of  valiant  hearts. 

7.  fractum    murmur :  a    pulsating   roar.     The   reverberation 
from  the  shields  would  give  the  sound  a  muffled  and  tremulous 
quality. 

9.  ceterum :    taking  up  the  thread  of   the  narrative  proper 
after  the  digression.     Translate  :    to  resume.  —  quidam  :    Greek 
and   Roman  antiquarians  and  writers ;    ancient  savants  were 
given  to  extending  the  wanderings  of  Ulysses  to  any  land  where 
his  presence  would  most  plausibly  account  for  the  name  of  a  city 
or  for  the  existence  of  some  local  monument.     Here  both  motives 
were  present. 

10.  fabuloso  :  famed  in  story,  as  Horace,  Odes  1.  22.  7  :  fabulo- 
sus  .  .  .  Hydaspes,  —  or  fraught  with  legends.  —  hunc  Oceanum  : 

D 


34  NOTES 

the  North  Sea ;  Tacitus  projects  in  thought  the  reader  and  himself 
to  the  region  which  he  is  describing. 

11.  Asciburgium :    a  military  post  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Lower    Rhine.      The    name    perhaps    survives   in    the    modern 
Asberg,  situated  north  of  Cologne,  near  Diisseldorf. 

12.  hodieque  :  =hodie  quoque,  even  to  this  day. 

13.  nominatum :   Tacitus  does  not  present  the  etymological 
details  on  which  the  theory  rested.     These  were  doubtless  fanci- 
ful enough,  since  the  demands  of  ancient  philologists  in  such 
respects  were  easily  satisfied.     Perhaps  they  saw  in  the  name  a 
reminiscence  of  the  famous  bag  (do-/c6j)  in  which  Aeolus  impris- 
oned the  unfavorable  winds,  Odyssey  10.  19-29.  —  Ulixi :  best 
explained  as  a  dative  of  agent ;    an  altar  dedicated  to  Ulysses 
would  constitute  no  definitive  proof  of  his  stay. 

16.  Graecis  litteris  inscriptos :  according  to  Caesar,  Bellum 
Gallicum  1.  29  and  6.  14,  the  Helvetians  and  the  Druids  were 
acquainted  with  the  Greek  alphabet.  The  inscriptions  here 
referred  to  were  probably  written  in  an  alphabet  which  ar- 
chaeological discoveries  made  in  the  Tyrol  have  shown  was  in  use 
among  the  Raetians,  and  was  closely  akin  to  the  Etruscan 
alphabet. 

18.    ex  ingenio  suo :   according  to  his  especial  bent. 

Chapter  4. 

The  purity  of  the  German  stock ;  the  resultant  uniformity  of 
physical  type  and  characteristics. 

2.  nullis  aliis  aliarum  nationum :  i.e.  nullis  conubiis  aliis 
aliarum  nationum.  Tacitus  emphasizes  as  strongly  as  possible 
the  freedom  with  which  exogamy  would  have  been  practiced,  if 
it  had  been  indulged  in  at  all.  Translate  :  by  no  intermarriages, 
promiscuously  contracted  with  various  races.  —  infectos :  con- 
taminated :  some  editors  attach  to  the  word  the  milder  connota- 
tion, modified. 

4.  tamquam  .  .  .  numero  :   so  far  as  can  be  judged  in  the  case 
of  so  great  a  population. 

5.  truces  et  caerulei  oculi :  the  Gauls  assured  Caesar's  soldiers 
that  the  mien  and  the  glances  of  the  Germans  struck  terror  to 
the  hearts  of  their  antagonists,  BellumGallicuml.  39.  1;  caeruleus 


NOTES  35 

is  the  standing  word  of  description  applied  in  Latin  to  the  color 
of  the  eyes  of  the  Germans  ;  cf .  Horace,  Epodes  16.  7  and  Juvenal, 
Satires  13.  164. 

6.  rutilae  comae  :   the  same  characteristic  is  attributed  to  the 
Caledonians,  Agricola  11.4.  —  magna  corpora  :  cf.  Agricola  11.4; 
Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  1.  39.  1 :    ingenti  magnitudine  corporum 
Germanos.     The  large  frames  of  the  Gauls  and  the  Germans  were 
always  a  source  of  wonder  to  the  shorter,  more  stocky  Romans. 
—  tantum  ad  impetum  valida :  in  Annales  2.  14  Germanicus  is 
represented  as  encouraging  his  soldiers  before  a  battle  with  the 
assurance :  iam  corp  us  (Germanorum)  ut  visu  torvum  et  ad  brevem 
impetum  validum,  sic  nulla  vulnerum  patientia  et  seq.  ('  moreover, 
the  (German)  physique,  while  grim  to  behold  and  powerful  in  a 
brief  onset,  has  no  capability  in  enduring  wounds  '). 

7.  non  eadem :   not  on  a  par  with  their  aggressiveness. 

8.  aestumque  tolerare  :  in  Historiae  2.  93  we  are  told  that  the 
heat  of  the  Roman  summer,  and  a  reckless  recourse  to  the  waters 
of  the  Tiber,  played  havoc  with  the  health  of  the  German  and 
Gallic  troops  of  Vitellius.  —  frigora  atque  inediam :   the  force  of 
tolerare  is  continued  with  these  words ;  note  the  chiastic  arrange- 
ment with  reference  to  the  preceding  pair.     The  asyndeton  con- 
ceals an  adversative  conjunction,  as  in  Agricola  12.  18 :  tarde 
mitescunt,  cito  proveniunt. 

9.  caelo  solove :    causal  ablatives.     These  words  dexterously 
mark  the  transition  to  the  description  of  the  country  and  the 
products  with  which  the  next  chapter  begins. 

Chapter  5. 

The  country  and  its  products;    the  precious  metals  and  the 
valuation  attached  to  them. 

1.  aliquanto  :   to  some  extent. 

2.  silvis :    according  to  Caesar,   Bellum  Gallicum  6.  25,  the 
Hercynian  Forest  was  nine  days'  journey  in  width  and  so  long 
that  a  march  of  sixty  days  would  not  bring  a  traveler  to  its 
furthest    borders.     Other    forests    were    the    Teutoburgiensis, 
Bacensis,  and  Caesia.  —  paludibus :    the  typical  description  of 
the  German  terrain  always  contains  reference  to  the  marshes ; 
e.g.    Historiae  4.  73  :  eadem  semper  causa  Germanis  transcendendi 


36  NOTES 

in  Galliam  .  .  .  ut  relictis  paludibus  et  solitudinibus  suis  fecundis- 
simum  hoc  solum  .  .  .  possiderent  ('  an  always  invariable  reason 
moved  the  Germans  to  cross  into  Gaul  .  .  .  (the  desire)  to  leave 
behind  their  native  swamps  and  wildernesses  and  occupy  this 
highly  fertile  soil').  —  umidior  qua  Gallias  :  not  primarily  a 
direct  allusion  to  a  heavier  rainfall,  but  to  the  swampy  nature  of 
the  country  in  West  Germany  and  Holland,  the  scenes  of  most 
of  the  Roman  campaigns  in  Germany  in  the  first  century  A.D. 
Cf.  Tacitus,  Annales  1.  61,  umido  paludum;  1.  68,  egressos  .  .  . 
per  umida  et  impedila;  2.  23,  umidis  Germaniae  terris. 

3.  ventosior  :  contrasted  with  umidior,  since  the  prevalence  of 
winds  would  make  for  a  drier  country. — -adspicit:  cf.  Agricola 
24.   3-4 :  eamque  partem  Britanniae  quae  Hiberniam  adspicit.  — 
satis :   ablative. 

4.  frugiferarum  arborum  inpatiens :    written  from  the  point 
of  view  of  one  familiar  with  the  opposite  conditions  existing  in 
Italy.     Total  absence  of  fruit  trees  is  not  implied  but  only  of  their 
cultivation ;    hence  there  is  no  inconsistency  involved  in  the 
mention  of  agrestia  poma  in  chap.  23.  3. 

6.  improcera  :  supply  sunt  pecora.  —  armentis  :  horned  cattle. 
—  suus  honor :  their  generic  attractions,  referring  especially  to 
size  and  appearance. 

6.  gloria  frontis :    flowery  diction  —  proud  adornment  of  the 
brow.     They  were  not  hornless,  but  lacked  the  branching  horns 
seen  on  Italian  cattle  to  this  day.  —  numero :   instead  of  in  fine 
breeds.  —  solae  et  gratissimae   opes :    solae  is  a  somewhat  ex- 
aggerated  statement ;    gratissimae  is   more   exact.      In  certain 
Old  Germanic  languages  the  same  word  signified  '  cattle  '  and 
'  wealth  ' ;    similarly,  in  Latin,  pecunia  is  connected  etymologi- 
cally  with  pecus.     In  the  Homeric  poems  values  are  sometimes 
expressed  in  terms  of  cattle,  e.g.  Iliad  2.  449  and  6.  236  ^ar6yu/3otoj, 
Odyssey  1.  431   &tKo<rd/3oios. 

7.  propitii :    the  sentiment  that  "money  is  the  root  of  all 
evil  "  is  as  hackneyed  in  ancient  literature  as  in  modern ;    e.g. 
Vergil,  AeneidS.  56:  Quid  non  mortalia  pectora  cogis,  auri  sacra 
fames!     Propertius,  3.  13.  49-50: 

auro  pulsa  fides,  auro  venalia  iura, 
aurum  lex  sequitur,  mox  sine  lege  pudor 


NOTES  37 

('  gold  has  banished  honor,  gold  purchases  Justice's  decrees,  law 
follows  in  the  train  of  gold,  and  anon  the  sense  of  shame,  once 
law  is  gone  '). 

9.  nullam     Germaniae    venam :      over    fifteen    years    later, 
when  Tacitus  was  writing  the   Annals,  he  had  learned  of  the 
presence  of  small  deposits  of  silver  near  modern  Wiesbaden ;   cf . 
Annales  11.  20 :  in  agro  Mattiaco  recluserat  (Curtius  Rufus)  specus 
quaerendis  venis  argenti  et  seq.  ('  in  the  territory  of  the  Mattiaci 
Curtius  Rufus  had   opened  up  mines  in  a  quest  for  veins  of 
silver '). 

10.  baud   perinde :    not  especially;  literally  there  is  an  ellip- 
tical comparison,  ac  aliae   nationes  or  the  like,   as  in  Agricola 
10.  21. 

11.  est  videre  :   like  the  Greek  f<mv  opdv. 

12.  principibus :     here  used  in  a  broad  sense,  i.e.  headmen, 
including  chieftains  and  kings. 

13.  quae  humo  finguntur  :  unlike  the  argentea  vasa,  the  earthen- 
ware was  of  domestic  origin.     We  have  learned  from  the  excava- 
tion of  prehistoric  tombs  that  the  Germans  had  a  pottery  tech- 
nique reaching  back  to  very  primitive  times.  —  quamquam  :  and 
yet;   the   clause   limits   the   preceding   sentence.  —  proximi:   i.e. 
to  the  Roman  frontier.     The  numismatic  finds  amply  confirm 
the  assertion  of  Tacitus  that,  in  his  time,  only  the  Germans  who 
lived  close  to  the  boundaries   had   coins,  and  that  these  were 
exclusively  of  Republican  mintage. 

15.   f ormas  :   types.  —  adgnoscunt :   they  know  well. 

17.  probant :    they  welcome. 

18.  serratos   bigatosque :     supply    nummos;    the   coins   here 
referred  to  are  two  types  of  the  silver  denarius,  which  were  not 
issued  after  the  middle  of  the  first  century  B.C.     The  former  had 
milled  edges,  the  latter  was  stamped  with  the  picture  of  a  biga 
or  two-horsed  chariot.     Besides  the  natural  partiality  of  peoples 
in  any  age  for  currency  of  a  long-established  value  (compare  the 
standing  of  the  English  sovereign  and  the  French  Napoleon 
nowadays),  another  reason  for  the  Germans'  preference  lay  in  the 
fact  that  in  the  time  of  the  Empire,  notably  after  Nero,  the 
denarius  was  debased  with  a  bronze  alloy. 

19.  adfectione  animi :   penchant. 


38  NOTES 

20.  facilior  usui :  more  serviceable;  the  right  "  change,"  as  we 
say,  could  be  made  more  easily  with  a  large  number  of  coins  of 
small  denominations.  —  promiscua  :  common  wares. 

Chapter  6. 

Weapons ;  military  tactics  and  formations  ;  the  code  of  honor. 

1.  ne   f  errum   quidem :    mention  of  the  precious  metals  is 
logically  succeeded  by  reference  to  iron  among  the  Germans,  and 
this  forms  an  easy  transition  to  the  following  description  of  arms 
and  warfare.  —  superest :    is   present  in  abundance.     Remains 
found  in  mounds  in  the  region  of  the  Elbe  would  indicate  that, 
at  least  among  the  peoples  of  this  locality,  iron  was  present  in 
large  quantities. 

2.  rari  gladiis :   rari  is  not  to  be  taken  with  strict  literalness ; 
the  use  of  the  sword  was  merely  relatively  less  frequent  than  that 
of  the  framea  (see  below).     In  chap.  18  the  sword  is  mentioned 
as  a  usual  article  of  the  marriage  dower  ;  the  use  of  short  swords 
was  a  racial  characteristic  of  the  East  Germans ;    cf .  chap.  43. 
Thus  swords  were  scarcely  a  rarity  in  primitive  Germany,  taken 
by  and  large.     They  may,  however,  have  been  seen  but  seldom 
in  the  hands  of  the  tribes  of  West  Germany  and  it  was  with 
these   that   the   Romans   came    in    closest    contact.  —  lanceis : 
these  had  stout  shafts,  broad  iron  heads,  and  were  used  only 
for  thrusting. 

3.  frameas :     the  framea,   styled  by  Tacitus  except  in   this 
treatise  simply  hasta,  was  the  characteristic  national  weapon  of 
the  Germans.     In  comparison  with  the  pilum  of  the  Romans  the 
shaft   seemed   excessively   long   and   the   iron   head   short.     In 
Christian  literature  framea  means  '  sword  ' ;    thus  in  the  Latin 
Bible  it  is  the  regular  equivalent  for  f>o/j.<f>ala.     Cf.  the  analogous 
development  in  meaning  of  e7x°s,  in  Homer    '  spear,'    in    the 
tragedians  '  sword.' 

6.  vel  comminus  vel  eminus :  notwithstanding  the  words  of 
Tacitus  here,  there  was  a  limit  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  framea 
at  close  quarters ;  cf.  Annales  2.  21 :  (Germani)  .  .  .  genere  pugnae 
et  armorum  superabantur,  cum  ingens  multitudo  artis  locis  prae- 
longas  haslas  non  protenderet,  non  colligeret  ('  the  Germans  were 
put  at  a  disadvantage  by  the  nature  of  the  combat  and  the  style 


NOTES  39 

of  weapons  employed,  since,  fighting  in  an  immense  crowd  in  a 
confined  space,  they  could  not  thrust  forward  their  very  long 
lances  and  could  not  recover  them  '). 

6.  scuto  :  the  German  shields  were  made  of  wicker  or  of  thin 
boards,  sometimes  reenforced  with  hide.     Among  the  East  Ger- 
mans they  were  round  in  shape,  elsewhere  they  were  rectangular 
or  hexagonal. 

7.  missilia :  not  only  light  javelins,  but  also  stones  and  slung- 
shots.  —  in  inmensum  :   to  an  enormous  distance. 

8.  nudi  aut  sagulo  leves  :  nudus,  as  well  as  the  Greek  yvpv6s,  is 
frequently  used  in  the  modified  sense  seen  in  our  expression, 
"  stripped    for    action."     The    German    infantry    removed    all 
encumbering  outer  garments  or  else  the  light  mantle  that  they 
wore  left  their  movements  unimpeded.  —  cultus  iactatio  :  osten- 
tatiousness  in  equipment. 

9.  coloribus :    in  Plutarch,  Marius  25,  we  read  of  the  white 
shields  of  the  Cimbri ;   the  Harii,  Germania  43.  21,  carried  black 
shields.     The  escutcheons  of  the  age  of  chivalry  originated  in 
this  custom  of  the  Germans.     In  the  Roman  army  each  cohort 
had  its  distinctive  device  or  digma  painted  on  its  shields ;  on  the 
column  of  Trajan  at  Rome  such  designs  as  a  winged  thunderbolt, 
a  garland,  and  a  laurel  crown  can  be  distinguished. 

10.  cassis  aut  galea :  for  the  conventional  distinction  between 
these  words,   see  lexicon.  —  equi   non  .  .  .  conspicui :    Caesar 
was  forced  to  supply  the  German  horsemen  whom  he  requisitioned 
for  service  against  Vereingetorix  with  new  mounts,  quod  minus 
idoneis  equis  utebantur,  Bellum  Gallicum  7.  65.  4-5. 

11.  sed  :  agility  in  evolutions  might  have  offset  their  natural 
defects,  but,  et  seq.  —  variare  gyros :    to  execute  changes  of  front 
in  either  direction;    such  shifts  were  involved  in  describing  the 
figure  8,  a  favorite  maneuver  in  Roman  equestrian  drill.     An 
essential  difference  between  Roman  and  German  methods  of 
horsemanship  is  implied  in  the  comment  made  in  Annales  11. 16 
on  Italicus,  a  prince  of  the  Cherusci,  ipse  .  .  .  armis  equisque  in 
patrium  nostrumque   morem  exercitus   ('he  ...  was  trained  in 
arms  and  in  horsemanship  after  the  mode  of  his  country  and  in 
our  fashion'). 

12.  uno  flexu:    with  a  wheel  constantly  in  one  direction,  in 


40  NOTES 

contrast  with  variare  gyros.  —  dextros :  the  language  of  Tacitus 
should  not  be  so  pressed  as  to  lead  to  the  inference  that  the  Ger- 
man cavalry  could  not  execute  a  left  wheel  but  that  they  ordina- 
rily did  not.  The  point  which  Tacitus  wished  to  emphasize  is 
that  the  Germans  were  not  trained  to  match  the  mobility  which 
enabled  a  troop  of  Roman  horsemen  suddenly  to  shift  from  a 
turn  in  one  direction  into  a  turn  in  the  other  without  breaking 
the  alignment.  In  the  case  of  a  German  column,  a  wheel  begun 
in  one  direction  was  always  completed.  The  right  wheel  alone 
is  specified  because  it  is  the  one  which  would  more  naturally 
occur  to  the  mind  as  an  example ;  furthermore,  this  evolution 
would  be  resorted  to  more  commonly,  since  the  side  protected 
by  the  shield  would  be  thus  presented  to  the  foe. 

13.  coniuncto  orbe :    not  a  very  lucid  expression,  because  it 
was  actually  the  horsemen  who  were  coniuncti,  orbe  being  the 
circle  or  the  arc  of  the  circle  of  which  the  file  of  wheeling  troops 
was    the    radius.     Translate :     the    wheeling   file    preserving    its 
alignment.  —  in  universum  aestimanti :   the  same  phrase  occurs 
in  Agricola  11.  10. 

14.  plus  .  .  .  roboris  :  cf.  Agricola  12.  1,  in  pedite  robur;  Germa- 
nia  30.  12,  omne  robur  (Chattorum)  in  pedite.  —  eoque  :  =  ideoque. 
The  mode  of  fighting  practiced  by  these  combined  forces  is  de- 
scribed in  detail  by  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  1.  48.     We  should 
infer  from  his  account  that  each  contingent  contained  an  equal 
number  of  horse  and  foot,  each  cavalryman  choosing  his  comrade 
from  the  infantry.     The  foot  soldiers  supported  the  horsemen  in 
action  and  came  to  their  rescue  in  case  they  were  unhorsed. 
Caesar  himself  recognized  the  serviceability  of  such  troops  and 
utilized  them  in  the  war  with  Vercingetorix  (cf .  Bellum  Gallicum 
7.  65.  4-5)  and  in  the  Pharsalian  campaign ;    cf.  Bellum  Civile 
3.  75  and  84. 

15.  congruente  ...  velocitate :   cf.  Bellum  Gallicum  1.  48.  7: 
si  quo  erat  longius   prodeundum  aut  celerius  recipiendum,  tanta 
erat    horum    exercitatione    celeritas,    ut    iubis    sublevati    equorum 
cursum  adaequarent. 

16.  ante  aciem  locant :    not,  of  course,  alone,  but  with  their 
equestrian  companions,  whose  presence  in  the  same  place  follows 
as  a  matter  of  course. 


NOTES  41 

17.  numerus :  i.e.  peditum  delectorum.  As  we  should  expect 
and  as  is  illustrated  by  the  passages  from  Caesar  referred  to 
above,  the  functions  of  the  cavalry  in  combats  in  which  the 
mixti  were  engaged,  was  taken  for  granted,  hence  in  description 
is  subordinated  to  the  part  played  by  the  chosen  infantry,  the 
agility  and  prowess  displayed  by  them.  They  were  regarded  as 
an  elite  body  —  thus  in  the  Pharsalian  campaign  we  find  Caesar 
selecting  them  from  the  antesignani  —  and  might  well  receive  a 
distinctive  name.  —  pagis  :  here  a  large  territorial  subdivision  of 
a  civitas,  such  as  those  into  which  the  Suebi  were  divided  accord- 
ing to  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  4.  1.  The  size  of  the  Suebian 
pagus  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  each  was  populous  enough 
to  put  a  thousand  warriors  in  the  field  every  year  and  to  retain  an 
equal  number  of  men  at  home  to  till  the  fields. 

19.  acies  :    the  main  body  of  the  army.  —  per  cuneos  :   later 
writers  liken  this  formation  to  a  boar's  head,  caput  porcinum. 

20.  cedere  loco :    the  regular  idiom  for  deserting  one's  post. 
Roman   military   theory   disapproved   even   of   strategic   with- 
drawals ;    failure   to   maintain   a  prescribed   position  rendered 
soldiers  liable  to  severe  penalty,  as  the  following  passage  in  the 
Life  of  Augustus,  written  by  Suetonius,  a  contemporary  of  Taci- 
tus, well  attests  :  '  If  any  cohorts  gave  way  in  battle  (si  cessissent 
loco),  Augustus  decimated  them  and  fed  the  rest  on  barley  (in- 
stead of  the  usual  rations  of  wheat) ;   when  centurions  left  their 
posts,  he  punished  them  with  death  just  as  he  did  the  rank  and 
file'  (chap.  24,  Rolfe's  translation). 

21.  quam :   with  ellipsis  of  potius,  as  in  various  passages  else- 
where in  the  works  of  Tacitus. 

22.  praecipuum  nagitium :    the  height  of  infamy;    praecipuus 
has  here  a  superlative,  force,  a  frequent  connotation  of  the  word 
in  Latin  of  this  period.     Cf.  Montesquieu,  Spirit  of  the  Laws 
xxviii,  chap,  xxi :    '  The  ancient  Salic  Law  allows  a  composition 
of  fifteen  sous  (120  denarii)  to  any  person  that  had  been  injuri- 
ously reproached  with  having  left  his  buckler  behind.'     The 
severity  of  Spartan  feeling  toward  the  pifainris  is  well  known ; 
however,  Greek  poets  and,  after  them,  the  Roman  Horace  were 
not  above  jesting  on  the  subject. 

23.  concilium :  the  popular  assembly  described  in  chap.  11-12. 


42  NOTES 

Chapter  7. 

Military  leaders,  their  choice  and  the  extent  of  their  powers ; 
incentives  to  valor  in  battle. 

1.  reges :  among  the  tribes  of  Germany  supreme  power  was 
vested  sometimes  in  one  person,  called  by  Tacitus  the  rex,  some- 
times in  two  or  more  principes.  Rex  and  principes  alike  were 
scions  of  the  family  or  families  which,  by  virtue  of  ancient  lineage, 
formed  the  top  of  the  social  structure  of  the  tribe.  Such 
preeminence  was  due  ordinarily  to  a  supposed  divine  origin. 
The  king,  where  he  existed,  was  that  one  of  the  principes  in 
whose  hands  authority  was  centralized  by  popular  choice. 
Eligibility  only  was  hereditary ;  final  option  rested  with  the 
people. 

As  is  shown  by  the  case  of  the  Cherusci,  who,  in  the  year  47  A.D. 
with  the  consent  of  the  emperor  Claudius,  set  up  as  king  Italicus, 
the  sole  surviving  member  of  the  regia  stirps,  although  in  previous 
years  they  had  been  ruled  by  principes,  monarchy  and  oligarchy 
might  interchange  in  one  tribe.  However,  in  general  the  peoples 
of  East  Germany  inclined  to  a  single  ruler,  whereas  in  the  West 
control  was  commonly  in  the  hands  of  principes.  —  ex  nobilitate  : 
on  the  ground  of  noble  lineage.  —  duces :  called  in  Old  High  Ger- 
man herzoga,  modern  German,  Herzog.  Among  tribes  that  had  no 
king,  the  natural  leader  in  war  where  he  existed,  a  dux  was  chosen 
to  exercise  chief  command  ;  such  tribal  duces  were  Brinno  among 
the  Canninefates  ( Historiae  4.  15),  Gannascus,  chosen  dux  by 
the  Chauci  though  himself  a  member  of  the  Canninefates  ( Annales 
11.  8).  As  in  the  cases  of  Ariovistus,  Arminius,  the  conqueror  of 
Varus,  and  Civilis,  leader  of  the  revolt  of  69-70  A.D.,  a  dux  might 
head  a  confederation  of  several  tribes.  The  selection  of  a  dux  was 
indicated  by  carrying  him  on  an  upraised  shield,  a  ceremony 
which  was  perpetuated  in  the  choice  of  a  king  among  the  later 
Goths  and  Franks.  —  nee  .  .  .  infinita  .  .  .  potestas :  the 
German  kings,  owing  as  they  did  their  position  to  popular  choice, 
were  inevitably  limited  in  initiative  and  remained  the  instruments 
of  the  tribal  will  as  expressed  in  the  folk  assembly. 

2.  exemplo :  ablative  of  means,  explained  by  the  following 
clause. 

4.    admiratione  :   ablative  of  cause. 


NOTES  43 

5.  animadvertere  :  to  inflict  capital  punishment.  The  Roman 
general  in  the  field  had  power  of  life  and  death  over  his  men,  an 
authority  symbolized  by  the  attendant  lietors  and  their  fasces. 
—  ne  verberare  quidem  :  in  conscious  contrast  with  conditions  in 
the  Roman  army,  where  a  flogging  inflicted  by  the  centurions  was 
a  common  punishment.  In  the  mutiny  of  the  Pannonian  and 
German  legions  (14  A.D.),  the  scourgings  which  they  had  suffered 
formed  one  of  the  grievances  of  the  malcontents  :  Annales  1.  17 : 
verbera  et  vulnera  .  .  .  sempiterna  ('  blows  and  wounds  (were)  con- 
tinual');  1.35:  nudant  universi  corpora  .  .  .  verberum  notas 
exprobrant  ('  all  as  one  man  bare  their  bodies  .  .  .  give  voice  to 
reproaches  because  of  the  scars  of  floggings  ').  —  nisi  sacerdoti- 
bus :  according  to  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  6.  23.  4,  command- 
ers-in-chief  did  wield  power  of  life  and  death.  Caesar,  influ- 
enced by  his  familiarity  with  Roman  practice,  may  have  gener- 
alized on  insufficient  data,  or,  in  the  interval  between  Caesar  and 
Tacitus,  conditions  may  have  changed.  Caesar's  assertion, 
Bellum  Gallicum  6.  21.  1 :  neque  druides  habent,  qui  rebus  divinis 
praesint,  neque  sacrificiis  student,  in  so  far  as  it  tends  to  minimize 
the  functions  of  the  priest  in  German  life,  is  also  at  variance  with 
the  conditions  portrayed  by  Tacitus,  who,  although  he  does  not 
imply  the  existence  of  a  hierarchy  comparable  with  the  Druids, 
assigns  important  prerogatives  to  the  priest.  The  priest  is  the 
authorized  instrument  of  divine  punishment,  presides  over 
divination  (chap.  10),  has  power  to  enforce  silence  in  council 
(chap.  11). 

7.  quern  adesse  .  .  .  credunt :   besides  Tiu  and  Wodan,  the 
chief  war  gods  of  German  mythology,  Donar,  Freyr,  and  other 
divinities  were  endowed  with  martial  character  and  pictured  as 
participating  in  battles. 

8.  effigiesque   et  signa :    in    chap.  9   Tacitus  says  that  the 
Germans  did  not  make  statues  portraying  the  gods  in  human 
form.     Effigies  were  images  of  animals  symbolizing  the  gods  and 
sacred  to  them ;    thus  the  wolf  was  the  animal  of  Wodan,  the 
boar  of  Freyr,  the  bear  of  Donar.     The  custom  here  referred  to  is 
mentioned    also    in    Historiae  4.  22 :    depromptae  silvis   lucisque 
ferarum  imagines,  ut  cuique  genii  inire  proelium  mos  est  ('  effigies 
of  wild  beasts  were  brought  forth  from  forests  and  groves,  accord- 


44  NOTES 

ing  to  the  custom  of  each  tribe  in  entering  battle  ')  ;  signa  were 
representations  of  the  attributes  of  the  several  gods,  such  as  the 
spear  of  Wodan,  and  the  hammer  of  Donar.  —  lucis  :  the  sacred 
groves  mentioned  in  chap.  9  ;  the  eagles  captured  from  the  legions 
of  Varus  were1  kept  in  such  precincts.  Cf.  Annales  1.  59:  (dixit) 
cerni  adhuc  Germanorum  in  lucis  signa  Romana,  quae  dis  patriis 
suspenderit  ('  he  said  that  to  the  present  day  the  Roman  standards, 
which  he  had  hung  up  in  honor  of  (their)  ancestral  gods,  were 
seen  in  the  groves  of  the  Germans'). 

11.  turmam  aut  cuneum  :    the  former  a  division  of  cavalry,  the 
latter  of  infantry.  —  familiae  et  propinquitates  :  a  military  align- 
ment based  on  kinship  is  the  natural  arrangement  in  a  society  in 
which  family  and  clan  retain  their  primitive  places  as  distinct 
social  and  territorial  units.     In  the  Iliad  2.  362  f.  Nestor  com- 
mends the  system  to  Agamemnon ;    in  comparatively  modern 
times  the  Scotch  fought  by  clans. 

12.  pignora :   the  women  and  children  usually  accompanied  a 
barbarian  army  in  the  field ;   cf.  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  1.  51 ; 
Tacitus,  Agricola  38.  1 ;    Historiae  4.  18  et  al.  —  audiri :  probably, 
if  the  text  be  correct,  to  be  explained  as  an  historical  infinitive, 
although  of  the  several  instances  in  which  Tacitus  uses  the  con- 
struction in  a  subordinate  clause,  there  is  none  in  which  it  ex- 
presses customary  action. 

15.  exigere :    to  inspect,  not  only  with  a  view  to  employing 
curative  measures,  a  function  of  the  woman  in  primitive  society, 
but  also,  as  numerare  suggests,  to  make  sure  that  the  warrior  had 
acquitted  himself  with  honor. 

16.  cibosque   et  hortamina :    another  example  of  a  favorite 
stylistic  turn ;   cf.  1.  2,  metu  aut  montibus. 

Chapter  8. 

The  deference  paid  to  woman. 

2.  obiectu  pectorum :  as  a  token  that  death  at  the  hands  of 
their  own  compatriots  was  to  be  preferred  to  falling  into  the 
power  of  the  enemy.  The  behavior  of  the  German  women 
before  the  battle  between  Caesar  and  Ariovistus  was  actuated 
by  the  same  motive :  (mulieres)  ad  proelium  proficiscentes 
mililes  passis  manibus  flentes  implorabant,  ne  se  in  servitutem 


NOTES  45 

Romania  traderent,  Bellum  Gallicum  1.  51.  3.  The  women  of 
the  Cimbri,  exhibiting  a  more  desperate  courage,  killed  the 
fugitives  before  committing  suicide  themselves,  Plutarch, 
Marius  27. 

3.  comminus  captivitate  :  join  in  translation  —  the  imminence 
of  captivity.  —  quam  longe  inpatientius  .  .  .  timent :  an  un- 
usual combination  of  words,  since  inpatientius  is  naturally 
used  of  adversity  borne  in  praesenti  rather  than  dreaded  in 
futuro.  Here  both  ideas  are  blended.  Translate :  the  terrors 
of  which  they  regard  as  far  more  unbearable  on  the  women's  ac- 
count (than  on  their  own). 

6.  puellae  quoque  nobiles  :  puellae  is  the  emphatic  word  ;  as  a 
rule,  only  persons  of  high  rank  were  acceptable  as  hostages,  hence 
nobiles  is,  strictly  speaking,  dispensable.  —  inesse  :  sc.  feminis. 

7.  providum :     the    Pythias,    Sibyls,    witches,    and   fortune- 
tellers of  many  races  and  epochs  prove  that  the  tendency  to 
endow    woman    with    mystic    powers   is   universal.  —  nee    aut 
consilia    earum    aspernantur :     recall    Caesar's   words,    Bellum 
Gallicum  1.  50.  4:  apud  Germanos  ea  consuetudo  (erat)  ut  matres 
familiae    eorum    sortibus    et    vaticinationibus    declararent,    utrum 
proelium  committi  ex  usu  esset  necne.     In  deference  to  the  pro- 
phetic advice  of  the  women,  Ariovistus  refused  to  give  battle 
until  the  moon  was  full. 

8.  vidimus :    the  first  person  does  not  prove  that  Tacitus 
saw  Veleda  with  his  own  eyes ;    we  know  that  she  was  taken 
captive  but  not  that  she  was  actually  brought  to  Rome.     Tacitus 
may  well  be  expressing  himself  as  spokesman  for  his  time  and 
mean  simply  nostra  aetas  vidit. 

9.  Veledam :    as  we  learn  from  several  passages  in  the   His- 
tories in  which  mention  of  her  is  made,  Veleda  was  an  inspired 
maiden  of  the  tribe  of  the  Brueteri.     She  lived  apart  in  a  tower 
on  the  banks  of  the  Lappe  and,  as  a  result  of  the  prestige  gained 
by  the  fulfillment  of  her  prophecies  as  to  the  success  of  German 
arms,  she  shared  with  Civilis  chief  prominence  in  the  revolt  of 
the  Batavi  in  69-70  A.D. 

10.  Albrunam :    not  mentioned  elsewhere.     The  name  rests 
on  conjecture  and  means  one  '  endowed  with  the  magic  power 
of  the  elves.' 


46  NOTES 

11.    nee  tamquam  facerent  deas :   on  the  surface  this  context 
expresses  the  fact  that,  in  contrast  with  the  simple  reverence 
paid  to  prophetesses  in  earlier  times,  a  later  generation  tended 
to  exalt  mystically  endowed  women  into  the  standing  of  divini- 
ties ;    cf .  Veledam  .  .  .  numinis  loco  habitam  1.  9  and  also  His- 
toriae   4.  61.     A   Roman   reader   would   inevitably   see   in   the 
sentence  a  satirical  thrust  at  the  deification  of  the  unfit  among 
the  women  of  the  imperial  houses,  e.g.  Poppaea  Sabina,  wife 
of  Nero,  and  their  daughter,  who  died  in  early  infancy.     Trans- 
late :    not  in  the  thought  that  they  were  manufacturing  goddesses; 
there  is  a  similar  sarcastic  touch  in  Horace,   Satires  1.  8.  1-3: 
Olim  truncus  eram  ficulnus,  inutile  lignum, 
cum  faber,  incertus  scamnum  faceretne  Priapum, 
maluit  esse  deum 

('  Once  on  a  time  I  was  the  trunk  of  a  fig  tree,  a  useless  log,  when 
the  craftsman,  debating  whether  to  fashion  a  settle  or  a  Priapus, 
preferred  that  I  should  be  a  god  ').  Cf.  Isaiah  xliv.  15:  "  Yea, 
he  kindleth  it,  and  baketh  bread ;  yea,  he  maketh  a  god  and 
worshippeth  it." 

Observe  the  dexterous  transition  effected  by  the  last 
clause  in  this  chapter  to  the  subject  treated  in  the  following 
chapter. 

Chapter  9. 

The  chief  divinities  of  the  German  pantheon. 

1.  deorum  maxime  Mercurium  colunt :  perhaps  an  echo  of 
the  sentence  of  Caesar,  Bellum  GallicumQ.  17.  1,  deorum  maxime 
Mercurium  colunt,  in  which,  however,  it  is  the  chief  divinity 
of  the  Gauls  that  is  identified  with  Mercury.  Caesar's  asser- 
tion, Bellum  Gallicum  6.  21.  2,  that  the  Germans  worshiped 
only  the  visible  and  beneficent  phenomena  of  nature,  such  as 
the  Sun,  Moon,  and  Fire,  and  knew  nothing  of  other  gods,  is 
widely  at  variance  with  the  account  of  Tacitus  and  is  based 
on  insufficient  knowledge.  Worship  of  the  powers  of  nature, 
universal  among  Indo-Europeans  at  one  time,  undoubtedly 
survived  to  some  extent  among  the  Germans  of  the  first  cen- 
tury B.C.;  vestiges  of  sun  worship  -are  most  readily  traceable. 
Nevertheless,  even  at  that  period,  anthropomorphic  cults, 


NOTES  47 

such  as  those  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  had  quite  overshadowed 
nature  worship. 

Mercurius  is  the  Roman  analogue  of  Wodan,  partial  corre- 
spondence in  attributes  and  functions  sufficing,  as  is  usual  in 
instances  of  this  sort,  to  establish  identification.  Thus  the 
petasus  and  the  caduceus  of  Mercury  were  comparable  to  the 
broad-brimmed  hat  and  the  magic  wand  of  Wodan.  Wodan 
was  the  god  of  death ;  the  Greek  Hermes  was  a  psychopompus 
or  conductor  of  souls  to  the  other  world.  Each  god  presided 
over  trade  and  commerce.  The  question  is  debatable  as  to 
which  of  these  analogies  especially  contributed  to  the  iden- 
tification, clear  evidence  of  which  still  survives  in  the  corre- 
spondence of  English  Wednesday,  derived  from  the  Wodanstag 
of  certain  German  tribes,  with  the  French  Mercredi  (dies  Mer- 
curii). 

Tacitus  writes  as  though  Wodan  were  the  chief  divinity  of 
the  whole  German  race.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  cult  had  no 
such  universal  currency ;  his  worship  flourished  especially 
among  the  peoples  who  dwelt  near  the  Rhine  and  Tacitus 
generalized  from  this  fact.  —  certis  diebus  :  at  stated  festivals. 

2.  humanis  quoque  hostiis :  the  custom  of  human  sacrifice, 
characteristic  of  the  lower  stages  of  religious  development  and 
surviving  even  in  more  enlightened  epochs,  was  by  no  means 
so  restricted  among  the  Germans  as  the  words  of  Tacitus  in 
this  passage  would  indicate.  Wodan,  as  the  god  of  death, 
was  a  favored  recipient  of  human  victims  offered  as  a  prophylactic 
measure  by  those  whose  lives  were,  or  might  be,  in  jeopardy. 
However,  in  his  case  the  practice  was  not  limited  to  fixed  oc- 
casions, and,  furthermore,  it  was  a  feature  of  other  cults,  e.g. 
that  of  the  sovereign  god  of  the  Suebi,  that  of  Nerthus  (cf. 
chap.  39  and  40),  and  of  Tiu,  the  war  god ;  cf.  Annales  13.  57, 
where  it  is  related  that  the  Hermunduri  immolated  the  defeated 
army  of  the  Chatti  to  Tiu  and  Wodan.  Human  sacrifice  was 
resorted  to  also  in  times  of  famine  and  to  avert  the  perils  of  the 
sea ;  instances  of  the  persistence  of  the  rite  among  Teutonic 
races  are  found  throughout  the  first  ten  centuries  of  our  era 
and  even  beyond.  —  Herculem:  i.e,  Donar;  cf.  note  on  chap. 
3,1. 


48  NOTES 

3.  Martem :    i.e.   Tiu,   originally   the  lord   of   the   heavens, 
akin  to  Zeus  and  Jupiter,  and  chief  of  all  the  gods  ;  he  gradually 
developed   into    the   war  god   par   excellence   of   the   Germans, 
hence  his  identification  in  the  interpretatio  Romana  with  Mars, 
proof  of  which  appears  in  the  translation  of  dies  Martis,  French 
Mardi,  into  the  old  Germanic  originals  of  Dienstag,    Tuesday. 
The  divine  province  of  Tiu  underwent  some  modification  as 
the  result  of  the  extension  among  certain  races  of  the  functions 
of  Wodan,  who  displaced  Tiu  to  a  certain  extent  from  supremacy 
in  the  pantheon.     As  a  death  god  Wodan  also  tended  more  and 
more,  especially  among  the  Scandinavian  peoples,  to  usurp  a 
place  as  a  god  of  war.  —  concessis  animalibus :    with  victims 
which  are  permissible;  written  from  the  point  of  view  of  Roman 
religion  which,   in   the  age   of   Tacitus,   would  regard  human 
victims  as  incastae. 

4.  Isidi:    it  is  impossible  to  establish  the  definite  Germanic 
counterpart.     Evidently  the  connection  of  a  sacred  ship  or  a 
shiplike  symbol  with  the  cult  ritual  of  some  Teutonic  goddess, 
suggested    to    Tacitus    or   his    source    the   so-called   Navigium 
Isidis;    in  the  course  of  this  festival,   celebrated   March  5,  a 
vessel  laden  with  spices,  and  consecrated  to  Isis,  was  launched 
on   the   sea.     This  rite   commemorated   the   advent   of   spring 
and  the  opening  of  navigation.     It  is  possible,  but  not  certain, 
that  it  was  a  native  goddess  of  productivity  to  whom  the  name 
Isis  is  here  applied. 

6.  nisi  quod :  introducing  a  qualification  of  the  preceding 
statement  as  in  Agricola  6.  5.  —  signum  ipsum :  the  very  emblem. 
—  liburnae :  see  on  Agricola  28.  5.  It  is  not  the  type  of  the 
ship  as  such  that  impels  Tacitus  to  regard  the  cult  as  an  im- 
portation, but  simply  the  fact  that  the  symbol  is  a  ship. 

6.  religionem :  do  not  render  by  the  English  derivative.  — 
ceterum :  indicating  a  return  to  the  topic  of  the  native  religion 
after  the  digression  concerning  a  divinity  assumed  to  be  an 
importation. 

This  sentence  reflects  a  tendency,  frequently  discernible  in 
this  treatise,  to  exalt  German  ideals  and  life  above  Roman. 
Tacitus  here  ascribes  to  the  Germans  of  his  time  a  degree  of 
spiritual  refinement  and  philosophical  insight  quite  beyond  them. 


NOTES  49 

7.  nee  cohibere  parietibus :    groves,  stone  cairns,  and  pre- 
cincts fenced  in  by  stones  but  open  to  the  sky,  constituted  the 
Germans'  sanctuaries,  to  which,  however,  the  word  templum  in 
its  literal  sense  of  '  sacred  inclosure,'  may  be  applied ;   cf.  chap. 
40.  16,  where  it  is  a  synonym  for  nemus.     The  statement  of 
Tacitus  as  to  the  non-existence  of  temples  is  confirmed  by  the 
archaeological  evidence,   but  his  explanation  of  the  fact  is  er- 
roneous.    The  absence  of  temple  structures  was   due  not  to 
philosophical  conviction  but  to  the  primitive  stage  of  religious 
development   reached    by    the    Germans.     A    striking    parallel 
to  this  passage  is  the  account  of  the  nature-worshiping  Persians, 
found  in  Herodotus  1.  131 :   '  The  Persians,  I  am  aware,  observe 
usages  of  this  sort,  not  deeming  it  lawful  to  set  up  statues, 
temples,  and  shrines ;   but  they  impute  folly  to  such  as  do  these 
things,  according  to  my  way  of  thinking,  because  they  do  not 
believe,  as  do  the  Greeks,  that  the  gods  have  human  forms.'  — 
in  ullam   human!   oris  speciem :    a  few  specimens  of  wooden 
idols,   fashioned  into   a  rude   semblance  of  the  human  form, 
have  been  unearthed  in  Teutonic  lands,  notably  in  Denmark. 
At  present  the  data  do  not  suffice  to  show  that  such  anthropo- 
morphic representations  of  gods  had  developed  independently 
among  the  Germans  in  prehistoric  times ;    they  may  well  be 
due  to  Roman  influence.     Hence  the  assertion  of  Tacitus  may 
stand,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that,  as  appears  from  the 
context,  he  had  in  mind  chiefly  the  temple  statues  of  the  Roman 
gods,  with  which,  of  course,  there  was  nothing  strictly  com- 
parable among  the  Germans. 

8.  ex :  in  keeping  with. 

9.  lucos  ac  nemora :    "  the  groves  were  God's  first  temples  " 
(Bryant,   A  Forest    Hymn).     Mention  of  sacred  groves  is  not 
infrequent    in    Tacitus ;     thus,    chap.    39.  3-4,  in    silvam  .  .  . 
sacram;    40.  8-9,  the  castum  nemus  of  Nerthus ;    Annales  2.  12, 
in  silvam  Herculi  sacram. 

10.  secretum  illud :    that  mysterious  entity.     Compare  with 
the  spirit  of  this  context  the  words  of  Tacitus  as  to  the  Jews, 
Historiae  5.  5  :  ludaei  mente  sola  unumque  numen  intellegunt;  pro- 
fanos  qui  deum  imagines  mortalibus  materiis  in  species  hominum 
effingant    ('  the   Jews   believe   in   one   god,    comprehensible   to 


50  NOTES 

the  mind  alone ;  they  regard  as  impious  those  who  fashion 
idols  out  of  perishable  material  into  the  forms  of  human 
beings  '). 

Chapter  10. 

Methods  of  divination. 

1.  auspicia  sortesque :    the  former  is  the  broader  term  and 
includes  the  several  methods  of  divination  mentioned  in  the 
chapter  exclusive  of  the  lot.     Recall  Caesar,   Bellum  Gallicum 
1.  50.  4  (quoted  in  note  on  8.  7),  where  we  are  told  that  the 
German  matrons  resorted  to  the  lot  in  order  to  discover  the 
propitious  time  for  battle;   also  1.  53.  7,  in  which  it  is  narrated 
that  the  Germans  had  recourse  to  the  lots  three  times  to  deter- 
mine the  fate  of  Valerius  Procillus,   a  friend  of  Caesar  held 
captive  by  Ariovistus.  —  ut  qui  maxime :   elliptical  for  ut  ii  qui 
maxime  observant.  —  sortium :    divination  by  lot  was  so  wide- 
spread as  to  amount  to  a  folk  custom  in  antiquity.     The  prac- 
tice existed  among  peoples  so  far  separated  as  Scythians,  Celts, 
Italians,    Finns,    and    Teutons.     Among    the    Italians    Caere, 
Falerii,   and   Patavium   were   centers   of   the   process   and   the 
sortes  of  the  temple  of  Fortune  at  Praeneste  were  especially 
famous.     Cicero,  De  Divinatione  2.  41.  85-87,  flouts  the  method 
as  a  tissue  of  fraud ;    nevertheless  the  sortilegus  continued  to 
be  a  feature  of  the  life  of  Augustan  and  imperial  Rome ;    cf . 
Horace,    Satires    1.  9.  29  f. ;     Tibullus,    1.3.11-12;     Juvenal, 
6.  583 ;   Apuleius,  Metamorphoses  9.  8. 

2.  simplex :     uniform.  —  virgam :    wood,   since  it   was   most 
readily  obtainable  and  easily  incised,  was  the  material  most 
used  for  the  sortes  among  primitive  peoples.     In  Italy  as  well, 
the  wooden  lot  seems  to  have  been  the  sanctioned  type  in  gen- 
eral :    Plautus,  Casina  384,  refers  to  those  made  of  poplar  or 
fir  wood ;    the  lots  used  at  Praeneste  were  made  of  oak ;    cf . 
Cicero's   description,    De    Divinatione  2.  41.  85 :     declarant  .  .  . 
perfracto    saxo    sortis    erupisse    in    robore    insculptas    priscarum 
litterarum   notis    ('  they   assert  .  .  .  that,   when   the   rock   had 
been  cleft,  there  burst  from  it  lots  composed  of  the  characters 
of    an    archaic    alphabet  incised    on    oak  wood ').     However, 
interesting  specimens  of  bronze  sortes  have  been  found ;    see 


NOTES  51 

the  Corpus  Inscriptionum  Latinarum,  vol.  1,  nos.  1438  et  seq. 
—  frugif erae  arbori :  not  a  fruit  tree  in  our  sense  of  the  term. 
Frugifer  is  applied  to  any  tree  or  shrub  which  produces  nuts 
or  berries,  e.g.  the  oak,  beech,  elder,  and  juniper.  The  pre- 
requisite here  mentioned  was  not  observed  universally  by  all 
peoples  who  resorted  to  divination  of  this  mode.  Thus  the 
Finns  took  no  cognizance  of  such  a  rule;  the  Scythians  used 
willow  wands  (Herodotus,  4.  67) ;  see  also  the  reference  in 
Plautus  mentioned  above. 

3.  notis :  signs  or  symbols,  carrying  with  them  some  definite 
implication  and,  as  the  following  sentence  shows,  widely  in- 
telligible, since  the  father  of  the  household  was  able  to  interpret 
them  as  well  as  the  priest.  Some  scholars  have  preferred  to 
see  in  these  notae  a  reference  to  the  characters  of  the  Runic 
alphabet,  derived  from  the  Latin  capitals.  However  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the  Runes  were  known  to  the  Germans  in 
the  first  century  A.D.  In  any  case,  so  strong  is  the  conservative 
tendency  in  matters  pertaining  to  religion  and  the  occult,  that 
the  traditional  signs  would  have  maintained  themselves  for  a 
time  in  the  face  of  an  innovation.  The  prestige  of  the  lots  of 
Praeneste  rested  partly  on  the  fact  that  they  were  written  in 
an  archaic  alphabet;  cf.  Cicero,  De  Divinations  2.41.85, 
quoted  above. 

5.  publice  :    as  an  affair  of  state. 

6.  pater  familiae :    as  was  the  case  in  Roman  religion,  the 
father  officiated  as  family  priest  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  house- 
hold ritual.     It  is  noteworthy  that,  in  contrast  with  Caesar, 
Bellum  Gallicum   1.  50.  4,   Tacitus  ignores  the  matres  familiae 
as  diviners  by  lot.     In  Roman  usage  procedure  varied.     Often, 
owing  to  the  common  folk  belief  that  the  guilelessness  of  child- 
hood commended  it  especially  as  the  vehicle  for  expressing  the 
divine  purposes,  a  puer  played  an  important  part  in  the  cere- 
mony ;   at  Praeneste  he  shuffled  and  drew  the  lots ;    sometimes 
he  seems  to  have  acted  as  interpreter;   cf.  Tibullus,  1.  3.  11-12. 
In  Horace's  parody  of  the  practice,  a  Sabine  crone  acts  as  sorti- 
legus;   Satires  1.  9.  29  f.  —  caelumque  suspiciens :   not  to  avoid 
seeing  the  surculi  but  as  an  expression  of  a  petition  for  divine 
guidance  to  be  disclosed  in  the  lots. 


52  NOTES 

7.  ter  singulos :  a  choice  was  made  three  times  and  each 
time  one  was  "  raised,"  as  the  operation  was  technically  termed. 
Numero  deus  impare  gaudet,  says  Vergil,  Eclogues  8.  75;  the 
number  three  has  been  especially  favored  in  ritual  and  cere- 
mony among  all  peoples  from  early  times  down  to  the  present. 
Besides  the  present  passage,  Herodotus,  4.  67,  Caesar,  Bellum 
Gallicum  1.  53.  7,  and  Tibullus,  1.  3.  11-12,  bear  witness  to  its 
significance  in  divination  by  lot.  —  impressam  :  incised.  Eng- 
lish write,  akin  to  German  einritzen,  testifies  to  the  fact  that 
incision  was  the  primitive  method  of  chirography. 

10.  adhuc :     besides.     In    Roman    practice    as    well,    results 
obtained  by  one  method  of  divination  might  be  subjected  to 
further  test ;    thus  in  Pliny,   Letters  2.  20,   the  legacy  hunter 
Regulus,  after  assuring  his  dupe,  Verania,  that  her  horoscope 
portends  recovery  from  her  illness,  resorts  to  an  haruspex  to 
confirm   the   prophecy   of   the   stars.  —  quidem :    implying,   as 
usual,  a  contrast,  which  in  this  case  is  contained  in  proprium 
.  .  .  experiri  following.  —  hie :    apud  Germanos.     As  in  chap. 
3.  10,  hunc  Oceanum,  the  reader  is  transported  in  thought  to 
Germany. 

11.  proprium:      the     characteristic     (method     of     divination). 
Among  the  Persians  also,  the  actions  of  horses  were  regarded 
as  constituting  omens ;    hence  it  was,  according  to  Herodotus, 
3.  84,  that,  prior  to  the  accession  of  Darius  to  the  throne,  it 
was  agreed  among  the  rival  claimants  that  he  whose  horse  should 
first  neigh  at  sunrise  should  reign. 

13.  isdem  .  .  .  lucis :     the    sacred    groves    referred    to    in 
chap.    9.  —  candidi :     the   canonical   color   for   sacred   animals 
and  those  of  celestial  breed ;    recall  the  white  bull  of  Europa, 
the  white  steeds  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
white   elephant   of   Siam !      Sacred   white   horses   accompanied 
the  Persian  armies;    cf.  Herodotus,  1.  189;    7.  40. 

14.  presses :   actually,  of  course,  by  the  yoke  of  the  chariot. 

15.  rex  vel  princeps :    according  to  whether  the  government 
of   the   state   was   monarchical   or   oligarchical.  —  comitantur : 
to  be  understood  literally ;    they  escorted  the  sacred  chariot 
on  foot.     So  in  the  army  of  Xerxes  the  eight  white  horses  which 
drew  the  chariot  of  Ahuramaz4a  were  driven  by  a  charioteer 


NOTES  53 

who  followed  on  foot  because  no  mortal  was  allowed  to  mount 
to  the  car ;  cf .  the  similar  'procedure  in  the  case  of  the  vehiculum 
of  Nerthus,  chap.  40.  10  f. 

16.  fremitus  :   (other)  sounds,  such  as  stampings  and  snortings. 

17.  apud  sacerdotes  :  faith  in  these  oracles  was  not  restricted 
to  the  credulous  populace  but  was  shared  by  the  upper  classes, 
who,  as  judged  by  the  attitude  of  their  Roman  compeers  in 
these  matters,  might  have  been  expected  to  hold  skeptical  views 
concerning  the  infallibility  of  auspices  and  to  have  manipulated 
them  to  suit  their  own  ends. 

18.  putant :    supply  proceres  et  sacerdotes. 

22.    committunt:    a  technical  "sporting"  formula  from  the 
language  of  the  arena  :   cf.  Juvenal,  1.  162  : 

securus  licet  Aenean  Rutulumque  ferocem 
committas,  et  seq. 

('  you  may  without  concern  match  Aeneas  and  the  doughty  Ru- 
tulian  ').  Except  in  Suetonius  componere  is  the  commoner  term. 
Such  combats  of  chosen  champions  were  ordinarily  resorted  to  to 
effect  a  final  settlement  of  an  issue,  e.g.  in  the  story  of  the 
Horatii  and  the  Curiatii  (Livy,  1.  24  f.),  in  the  dispute  between 
the  Argives  and  the  Spartans  for  the  possession  of  Thyreatis 
(Herodotus,  1.  82),  and  in  the  "  judgment  of  God,"  a  custom 
of  the  age  of  chivalry  familiar  to  readers  of  Ivanhoe. 

Chapter  11. 

The  popular  assembly. 

1.  principes :    as  in  5.  12,  used  in  the  broad  sense  of  leading 
men.     In  monarchical  states  the  king  shared  in  the  deliberations 
of  the  principes,  who  probably  formed  a  standing  council  or 
senate.  —  consultant :     they    deliberated,    as    we    say,    "  with 
power." 

2.  omnes :   in  the  popular  assembly  or  Thing,  comprising  all 
men  of  free  birth,  both  the  commons  and  the  principes,  and  in 
this  respect  comparable  to  the  dyop-fi  of  the  Homeric  Greeks. 

3.  pertractentur :    the  results  reached  after  careful  delibera- 
tion by  the  principes  were  presented  as  reports  to  the  assembly, 
to  be  accepted  or  rejected. 


54  NOTES 

4.  certis :  regularly  appointed.  Regular  sessions  were  held 
only  at  the  time  of  the  new  or  the  full  moon,  not  at  every  such 
period,  but  two  or  three  times  a  year. 

6.  auspicatissimum  initium  :    on  the  advice  of  the  prophet- 
esses, Ariovistus  avoided  battle  until  the  time  of  the  full  moon, 
Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  1.  50;    the  Spartans  refused  to  march 
to  the  aid  of  the  Athenians  at  Marathon  until  the  moon  was  at 
its  full,  Herodotus,  6.  106. 

7.  numerum  .  .  .  noctium   computant :     a   procedure   which 
logically  accompanied   the  computation  of   time  according  to 
the  moon's  phases.     The  Gauls  also  calculated  time  in  terms 
of   nights ;     cf .    Caesar,    Bellum  Gallicum   6.  18.     Our   English 
fortnight  and  twelfthnight  are  survivals  of  this  practice  of  our 
Teutonic     forefathers.  —  constituunt  .  .  .  condicunt :       supply 
diem;   they  set  a  day  and  agree  upon  it. 

8.  nox   ducere   diem  videtur :    cf .   the  language  of   Caesar, 
Bellum    Gallicum    6.  18.  2 :    Galli  .  .   .  et   mensium   et   annorum 
initia  sic  observant  ut  noctem  dies  subsequatur.     The  same  con- 
ception, which  still  holds  good  among  the  Jews  and  the  Mo- 
hammedans,  reveals   itself   in    the   marked   preference   in   the 
Homeric  poems  for  the  word  order  M/KTCIS  re  KO.I  r^ara. 

9.  nee  ut  iussi :    not  like  persons  acting  in  response  to  a  com- 
mand.    The  penchant  for  individual  freedom  of  action  exhibited 
by  the  Germans  was  bound  to  provoke  comment  on  the  part 
of  a  Roman,  since  his  prejudice  was  all  in  favor  of  carefully 
ordered  parliamentary  procedure  and  punctilious  cooperation ; 
cf .    Historiae  4.  76 :    (dixit)  Germanos  .  .  .  non  iuberi,  non  regi,' 
sed  cuncta  ex  libidine  agcre   ('  he  said  that  the  Germans  .  .   . 
were  not  subject  to  orders  or  control,  but  acted  in  all  things  ac- 
cording   to    their    fancy  ').     Throughout    this    account    of    the 
German  assembly,  the  contrasts  with  Roman  usage  are  present 
in  the  mind  of  the  writer. 

11.  ut  turbae  placuit :  the  formal  call  to  order  waited  on 
the  convenience  of  the  throng,  an  ultra-democratic  arrange- 
ment.—  armati :  cf.  chap.  13.  1.  The  attitude  of  the  Roman 
toward  this  practice,  so  essentially  at  variance  with  his  own, 
but  characteristic  of  a  stage  of  civilization  in  which  military 
organization  is  the  basis  of  civic  life,  is  well  illustrated  by  Livy, 


NOTES  55 

21.  20,  who  refers  (as  does  Caesar,  Bellum  Gailicum  5.  56.  1) 
to  the  armatum  concilium  of  the  Gauls  :  in  Us  nova  terribilisque 
species  visa  esl,  quod  armati  —  ita  mos  gentis  erat  —  in  concilium 
venerunt. 

12.  per  sacerdotes :   as  representatives  of  the  gods,  in  whose 
name  a  sacred   truce,   observed  during  the  session,   was  pro- 
claimed.    In   Homeric   times   the   officials   who   convened   the 
assembly  were  not  the  priests  but  the  heralds,  who  were,  how- 
ever, sacrosanct  as  being  under  the  protection  of  Zeus ;    hence 
their  epithets  Oeiot,  '  divine,'  and  Ad  <f>t\oi,  '  dear  to  Zeus.'  —  et 
coercendi :  a  breach  of  the  peace  would  be  an  offense  against  the 
gods,  for  whom  the  priests  would  act  as  deputies  in  inflicting 
punishment,  precisely  as  in  the  case  of  infractions  of  military  dis- 
cipline ;  cf.  chap.  7.  7  :  velut  deo  imperante.     Upon  the  Homeric 
herald  also  devolved  the  task  of  keeping  order  in  the  assembly 
and  quelling  disputants  ;  cf .  Iliad  7.  274. 

13.  rex  vel  princeps :    as  in  10.  15,  the  expression  is  adapted 
to  cover  assemblies  of  either  monarchical  or  non-monarchical 
states.  —  prout  .  .  .  audiuntur :    the  Roman  reader  would  be 
impressed  with  the  contrast  here  presented  with  the  procedure 
followed  in  the  senate,  the  sole  Roman  legislative  body  at  this 
time.     In  the  senate,  ius  sententiae  dicendae  was  controlled  solely 
by  official  position,   i.e.  membership  in  the  body  of  the  con- 
sulares,  praetorii,  et  cet.,  within  these  classes  by  seniority,  and 
was  not  subject  to  variation  in  favor  of  such  elements  of  per- 
sonal prestige  as  decus  bellorum,  facundia. 

16.  concutiunt :  they  clash  one  upon  the  other.  The  Gauls 
employed  this  method  of  applause  under  similar  circumstances ; 
cf.  Caesar,  Bellum  Gailicum  7.  21.  1. 

Chapter  12. 

The  judiciary ;   the  penal  code. 

1.  accusare  quoque  :  the  assembly  was  not  only  a  deliberative 
body  but  could  also  legally  exercise  judicial  functions.  —  dis- 
crimen  capitis  intendere  :  to  lay  a  charge  involving  capital  pun- 
ishment. 

3.  arboribus  suspendunt :  among  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans 
hanging  was  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  suicide ;  strangulation, 


56  NOTES 

however,  the  nearest  approach  to  hanging,  had  a  recognized 
place  in  the  Roman  penal  code.  —  ignavos  et  imbelles  :  these 
words  are  paired  also  in  Agricola  15.  11  and  in  Germania  31.  7. 

4.  corpore  infames  :    morally  degenerate.  —  caeno  ac  palude  : 
combine  in  translating. 

5.  crate  mergunt :    Livy,  1.  51,  describes  an  isolated  instance 
of  the  infliction  of  this  penalty  in  the  time  of  Tarquinius  Super- 
bus  :    ut   novo   genere   leti   deiectus    ( Turnus)   .  .  .  crate  superne 
iniecta  saxisque  congestis   mergeretur.     Among  the  ancient  and 
the  medieval    Germans   this    mode  of   execution  was  reserved 
primarily  for  female  offenders ;    hence  its  employment  in  the 
case  of  male  culprits  branded  their  transgressions  as  especially 
unmanly. 

6.  tamquam :     here,    as   frequently   in   Tacitus,    introducing 
the  motive  which  is  present  in  the  mind  of  the   agent   and 
controls    his     action.  —  scelera    .    .    .    fiagitia :      crimes    and 
abominations  :  the  former  looks  toward  the  victim,  the  latter  has 
primary  reference    to    the    personal    infamy    incurred    by  the 
sinner. 

7.  levioribus  delictis :    among  these  was  homicide ;    cf.  chap. 
21.  3.  —  pro  modo  poena :    a  Roman  reader  would  not  see  in 
the  allusions  contained  in  this  chapter  to  the  Germanic  method 
of  graduating  punishments  according  to  the  magnitude  of  the 
offense,  a  superfluous  stressing  of  the  only  justifiable  procedure. 
Though  in  practice  the  Roman  method  did  not  differ  in  this 
respect  from  the  German,  yet  a  cardinal  doctrine  of  Stoicism, 
the  regnant  school  of  thought  in  the  time  of  Tacitus,  was  that 
in  theory  all  offenses  were  equal;  see,  e.g.,  Cicero,  Academica 
2.  43.  133 :  placet  Stoicis    omnia    peccata    esse    paria.     Horace, 
Satires  1.  3.  96  f.,  ridicules  this  tenet  as  repugnant  to  reason  and 
unworkable  in  practice,  and  recommends :  adsit  \  Regula  peccatis 
quae  poenas  inrogel  aequas. 

8.  equorum  pecorumque  numero :   live  stock,  being  the  chief 
source   of   wealth,    was   the   natural   legal   tender.     From   the 
usage  here  described,   developed   in  later  Germanic  laws  the 
elaborate    system    of   regulating    the    compounding    of    crimes 
and  felonies  on  the  basis  of  pecuniary  compensation,  known 
as  Wergeld.     Fines  were  adjusted  "  to  fit  the  crime." 


NOTES  57 

9.  regi  vel  civitati :    this  procedure  was  based  on  the  theory 
that  the  perpetrator  of  a  crime  had  sinned  against  the  state  as 
well  as  against  the  victim.     Hence  in  monarchical  states  the 
king,  elsewhere  the  community,  received  as  compensation  for 
the  breach  of  public  peace  which  had  been  committed,  a  per- 
centage of  the  Wergeld. 

10.  propinquis  eius :    when  murder  had  been  done  or  when 
for  some  other  cause  the  injured  party  had  not  lived  to  receive 
his  compensation.  —  eliguntur  .  .  .  et  principes :    the  judicial 
administration  of  the  cantons  was  in  the  hands  of  certain  qualified 
members  of  the  existing  body  of  principes;    selection  of  the 
principes  to  be  intrusted  with  this  function  was  another  pre- 
rogative of  the  tribal  assembly.     These  officials  were   perhaps 
the  principes  regionum  mentioned  by  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum 
6.  23.  5 :    in  pace  nullus  est  communis  magistratus  sed  principes 
regionum  atque   pagorum  inter  suos  ius   dicunt   controversiasque 
minuunt. 

11.  per  pagos  vicosque :   the  pagi  were  extensive  subdivisions 
of  the  civitas;  see  note  on  6.  17 ;   each  formed  a  judicial  district 
throughout  which  the  presiding  princeps  held  court  in  circuit. 
The  addition  of  vicos  simply  characterizes  in  a  general  way  the 
pagus  as  an  aggregation  of  village  communities ;    in  certain  of 
them  the  sittings  were  held.  —  iura  .  .  .  reddunt :   this  formula 
and  Caesar's  ius  dicere  (see  note  10  above)  give  in  Roman  legal 
phraseology  the  technical  definition  of  the  activity  of  the  prae- 
tors, with  whom,  however,  the  judicial  principes  were  analogous 
only   in   their   capacity   of   presiding   justices.     Verdicts   were 
dependent  on  the  consilium,  '  advice,'  and  auctoritas,  '  sanction,' 
of  the  hundred  assessors,  representing  the  people  of  a  pagus. 
The  princeps  was  responsible  for  the  announcement  and  the 
execution  of  the  collective  decision.  —  centeni :    in  later  times 
called    Hunnones.     When  Tacitus  was  describing  this  judicial 
institution  of  the  Germans,  he  must  have  compared  it  in  thought 
with  the  centumviri  or  '  court  of  the  hundred  men,'  of  which 
we  read  so  frequently  in  the  Letters  of  Pliny.     This  name  was 
an  approximation  to  the  number,  since  there  were  at  first  105 
members,  and  was  retained  after  the  chamber  was  increased 
to  180.     Similarly,  in  later  times,  assistants  at  German  courts 


58  NOTES 

were  called  Hunnones,  when  the  name  had  ceased  to  have  any 
numerical  significance. 

Chapter  13. 

The  investiture  with  arms ;   the  comitatus. 

1.  nihil  .  .  .  nisi  armati  agunt:    Thucydides,  1.  6,  tells  how 
in  early  times  in  Greece  men  lived  always  under  arms,  '  as  do 
barbarians.' 

2.  moris  :  a  characteristic  usage  ;  cf.  Agricola33.  1  and  42.  20. 

3.  suffecturum  probaverit :    has  passed  favorably  on  his  com- 
petence. 

4.  principum    aliquis :     the   ceremony   of   investiture   would 
normally  be  performed  by  the  father  if  he  were  alive ;   however, 
one  of  the  chiefs,  on  whose  favor  the  novitiate  had  a   claim, 
might  act  in  loco  parentis  for  the  reasons  mentioned  below. 

5.  apud  illos  toga :    being  the  German  counterpart  of  the 
assumption  of  the  toga  virilis. 

6.  pars  .  .  .  rei  publicae :    inasmuch  as  he  thereafter  par- 
ticipated in  the  privileges  and  the  duties  of  citizenship ;    the 
sentence  does  not  imply  that  there  was  a  complete  breaking 
of  home  ties  and  emancipation  from  the  patria  potestas. 

7.  insignis    nobilitas    aut  .  .  .  merita :     or   both,    since    the 
two  attributes  are  not  mutually  exclusive.  —  principis   digna- 
tionem :    condescension  on  the  part  of  a  chief,  i.e.  investiture 
with  arms  at  his  hands. 

8.  etiam  adulescentulis :    those  below  the  period  of  iuvenla, 
the  normal  age  for  military  service.  —  adsignant :    entitle  to. 

9.  robustioribus :    the  mature  and  seasoned  members  of  the 
following  but  who  may  not  possess  inherited  claim  to  distinction. 

—  adgregantur :  they  align  themselves  with.  —  nee  rubor  .  .  . 
adspici :  they  are  not  ashamed  to  waive  their  inherited  claims 
to  priority  and  take  a  place  in  the  ranks,  as  it  were,  of  the  fol- 
lowing. 

10.  quin  etiam  :   what  is  more;  herewith  is  expressed  a  further 
possible  qualification  of  the  standing  of  the 'young  noble  in  the 
following ;    he  not  only  takes  a  place  among  his  fellows  as  one 
among  many,  but  he  is  liable  to  see  others  on  the  score  of  merit 
and  experience  enjoy  a  higher  position  in  the  esteem  of  the 


NOTES  59 

princeps  than  does  he.  —  comitatus :  in  this  institution  is  the 
origin  of  feudal  vassalage  —  the  group  of  henchmen  paying 
fealty  to  a  chief,  his  followers  in  war  and  his  table  companions 
in  peace. 

13.    locus  :   supply  sit. 

16.  decus  .  .  .  praesidium :    these  words  are  also  joined  in 
one  context  in  the  famous  lines  which  begin  Horace,  Odes  1.  1 : 

Maecenas  atavis  edite  regibus, 

0  et  praesidium  et  dulce  decus  meum. 

17.  comitatus  :   preferably  taken  as  a  genitive. 

19.  profligant :  they  all  but  finish.  It  is  unnecessary  to  take 
this  word  in  a  sense  other  than  that  most  frequent  in  Ldvy  and 
Tacitus,  where  it  commonly  implies  virtual,  not  total,  com- 
pletion in  contrast  with  conficere;  cf.  Livy,  21.  40.  11 :  bellum 
.  .  .  commissum  ac  profligatum  conficere.  Tacitus  means  that 
the  terror  of  the  name  of  a  famous  comitatus  often  decides  the 
issue  of  a  war,  which,  however,  is  not  ended  until  they  actually 
engage  in  the  conflict. 

Chapter  14. 

The  comitatus  in  war. 

2.  iam  vero :    moreover;   a  transition  to  a  stronger  statement 
as  in  Agricola  9.  8;   21.  6. 

3.  superstitem  .  .  .  recessisse :     among   other   examples   of 
the  loyalty  of  the  comites  to  their  chief,  we  are  told  by  Am- 
mianus  Mareellinus,   a  historian  of  the  fourth  century   A.D., 
that  the  two  hundred  comites  of  Chnodomar,  king  of  the  Ala- 
manni,  voluntarily  surrendered  themselves  when  he  had  been 
defeated  and  captured  at  the  battle  of  Strassburg  in  357  A.D.  ; 
Ammianus  Mareellinus  16.  12.  60.     As  an  illustration  of  similar 
personal  devotion,   though  from  another  field,  we  may  recall 
that  when  Cyrus  the  Younger  died,  his  friends  and  table  com- 
panions fell  fighting  in  his  defense  with  the  exception  of  Ariaeus ; 
Xenophon,  Anabasis  1.  9.  31. 

6.  sua  .  .  .  facta  gloriae  eius  adsignare :  mentioned  in 
Agricola  8.  9-11  as  a  worthy  act  of  a  dutiful  subordinate.— 
praecipuum  sacramentum :  the  comites  are  represented  as 


60  NOTES 

binding  themselves  by  an  oath  of  service  analogous  to  that 
sworn  in  allegiance  to  the  emperor  by  the  Roman  soldiers  and 
renewed  yearly.  Vegetius,  a  writer  of  the  early  fifth  cen- 
tury A.D.,  quotes  this  oath  as  follows:  iurant  autem  milites, 
omnia  prae  se  slrenue  facturos  quae  praeceperit  imperator,  num- 
quam  deserturos,  nee  mortem  recusaturos  pro  Romana  republica 
('  the  soldiers  take  oath  that  they  will  discharge  to  the  best  of 
their  ability  the  commands  of  the  general,  will  never  desert 
their  post,  will  never  refuse  to  die  in  defense  of  the  Roman 
state  ')  ;  De  Re  Militari  2.  5. 

10.  inter  ancipitia :  amid  the  hazards  (of  warfare) . 

12.  liberalitate  :   a  departure,  typical  of  our  author  and  other 
writers  of  the  Empire,  from  the  strict  usage  of  classical  prose, 
according  to  which  a  prepositional  phrase  would  be  the  normal 
construction.  —  bellatorem :    the  use  of  verbal  substantives  as 
adjectives  is  not  uncommon  in  Latin  of  all  periods,  especially 
with  nouns  in  -tor  and  their  feminines,  and  occurs  with  other 
nouns  as  well ;    cf.  Catullus,  68.  46,  anus  charta;    Livy,  1.  34.  5, 
Lucumonem  exsule  advena  ortum. 

13.  nam :  giving  the  reason  why  their  demands  on  the  gener- 
osity of  the  chief  are  thus  limited ;  a  preceding  sentence  stipen- 
dium  non  exigunt  is  implied. 

14.  epulae  .  .  .  apparatus :    the  former  word  has  reference 
to  the  feast  itself ;    the  latter  to  the  various  ingredients  and 
concomitants,   which   among   the   Romans   would   include   not 
only  food  and  drink  but  garlands  and  perfumes ;    cf .  Horace, 
Odes  1.  38,   Persicos  odi,  puer,  apparatus,  et  seq.     Such  refine- 
ments,  of   course,   were   lacking   to   German   banquets,    hence 
incompti. 

16.  annum:    =  annonam,  as  in  Agricola  31.  5. 

17.  vocare :      =  provocare.      The    thought    of    this    passage, 
which,  although  it  applies  to  the  comites,  is  nevertheless  colored 
by  the  typical  Roman  conception  of  the  Germans,  is  paralleled 
by  the  ideals  of  life  attributed  by  Herodotus,  5.  6,  to  the  Thra- 
cians :    '  It  is  deemed  that  the  idler  is  the  most  honorable,  the 
tiller  of  the  soil  the  least  honorable ;    that  a  livelihood  gained 
from  war  and  pillage  is  the  best.' 

18.  sudore    adquirere  .  .  .  sanguine    parare :     the    chapter 


NOTES  61 

closes  in  the  Tacitean  manner,  with  an  effective  sentence  — 
note  the  antithesis,  heightened  by  alliteration. 

Chapter  15. 

The  comitatus  in  time  of  peace. 

I.  ineunt :   the  subject  is  the  princeps  and  the  comites.     The 
comitatus  is  still  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  the  writer,  as  the 
allusion  to  principes  in  line  8  shows.  —  non  multum  venatibus : 
on  the  surface  a  restriction  of  Caesar's  testimony  as  to  the 
devotion  to  the  chase  characteristic  of  the  Germans ;  cf .  Bellum 
Gallicum  4.  1. 8  :  multumque  sunt  in  venationibus  (Suebi) ;  6.  21.  3  : 
vita  omnis  in  venationibus  atque  in  studiis  rei  militaris  consistit. 
However,  Caesar  is  speaking  of  a  universal  racial  trait ;   Tacitus 
is  thinking  primarily  of  a  privileged  warrior  class. 

3.  nihil  agens :  explained  by  the  following  ablative  absolute 
construction.  —  domus  et  penatium :  penatium  cura  has  refer- 
ence to  the  more  intimate  concerns  of  the  household.  The 
combination  domus  et  penatium  bears  much  the  same  connota- 
tion as  our  "  house  and  home." 

6.    f  amilia  :  here  in  the  restricted  sense  of  the  English  derivative. 

6.  ament  inertiam  et  oderint  quietem:    an  oxymoron  based 
on  the  double  meaning  of  quies,  which,  like  English  repose,  may 
mean  either  rest  or  slumber  —  they  love  indolence  and  hate  re- 
pose (of  peace). 

7.  *  viritim :    the  gifts  were  bestowed  on  the  princeps  by  in- 
dividuals directly,  not  by  the  state  as  a  whole.     In  later  times 
these  voluntary  donations  passed  into  a  compulsory  tax. 

8.  armentorum :    such  a  partitive  genitive,  following  a  verb 
"  whose  action  affects  the  object  only  in  part,"  is  a  frequent 
construction  in  Greek. 

II.  magna  arma :    in  chap.  6  we  are  told  that,  owing  to  the 
comparative  scarcity  of  iron,  swords  were  rare  among  the  Ger- 
mans, comparatively  speaking,  and  that  the  framea  had  only 
a  short  point.     Hence  large  weapons,  involving  as  they  would 
a  more  lavish  expenditure  of  iron  for  blade  and  point  respectively, 
would  be  held  at  a  premium. 

12.  phalerae :  medallions,  used  as  trappings  for  horses  and 
worn  as  articles  of  personal  adornment.  Specimens  have  been 


62  NOTES 

found  in  ancient  graves  in  Germany.  —  torques  :  metal  rings, 
worn  as  armlets  or  collars.  These,  as  well  as  phalerae,  were 
decorations  bestowed  on  Roman  soldiers  as  rewards  for  bravery. 
—  pecuniam  accipere  docuimus :  bribery  of  native  chieftains 
had  on  more  than  one  occasion  served  Rome  as  an  effective 
device  in  her  dealings  with  her  northern  foemen.  Transactions 
of  this  kind,  carried  on  by  Domitian  with  Chariomerus,  king 
of  the  Cherusci  and  Decebalus,  king  of  the  Dacians,  were  still 
fresh  in  the  public  memory  when  Tacitus  was  writing  the  Ger- 
mania;  cf.  also  chap.  42.  10  and  Historiae  4.  76:  pecuniam  ac 
dona,  quis  solis  corrumpantur  (Germani)  ('  money  and  gifts, 
the  sole  means  by  which  the  Germans  are  corrupted  '). 

Chapter  16. 

Habitations  and  houses. 

1.  nullas  urbes :   walled  towns  of  some  size,  such  as  had  been 
from  time  immemorial  the  civic  centers  typical  of  Greek  and 
Roman  life.     We  hear  of  oppida  among  the  Germans,  but  these, 
though  fortified,   were   not   intended   as   places   of   permanent 
residence ;    like  the  stockades  of  pioneer  times  in  this  country, 
they  were  places  of  refuge  in  time  of  war.     The  Roman  regarded 
the  founding  of  walled  towns  as  marking  a  milestone  in  human 
progress;  cf.  Lucretius,  De  Rerum  Natura  5.  1108: 

condere  coeperunt  urbis  arcemque  locare 
praesidium  reges  ipsi  sibi  perfugiumque 

('kings  began  to  found  cities  and  to  lay  out  a  citadel  as  a 
buttress  to  their  power  and  a  place  of  refuge  ')>  echoed  by  Horace, 
Satires  1.  3.  104-105 : 

.  .  .  dehinc  absistere  bello, 

oppida  coeperunt  munire  et  ponere  leges 

('  then  they  began  to  cease  from  war,  to  fortify  towns,  and  to 
enact  laws ').  On  isolation  of  residence  as  an  attribute  of  bar- 
barism, see  Agricola21.  2. 

2.  sedes :    it  has  been  assumed  ordinarily  that   this  word 
means  dwellings,  hence  that  this  clause  merely  anticipates  the 
thought  of  the  context  vicos  locant,  et  cet.     A  recent  and  plausible 
explanation  takes  the  word  in  the  common  sense  of  tribal  seat 


NOTES  63 

or  domain;  the  reference  will  then  be  to  the  racial  desire  for 
isolation  mentioned  by  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  4.  3.  1  and 
6.  23.  1,  which  impelled  each  stock  to  seek  to  maintain  a  zone 
of  deserted  land  about  its  country.  Take  inter  se  with  iunctas. 
—  discreti  ac  diversi :  these  words  refer  to  the  dispersion  of 
the  village  communities  throughout  the  country  and  to  their 
unmethodical  arrangement  in  respect  to  communication  with 
one  another. 

3.  ut  fons  .  .  .  placuit :    hence  the  frequency  to  this  day  in 
Germany  of  names  of  towns  ending  in  -brunn,  -bach,  -wald,  and 
occasionally  in  -feld. 

4.  conexis  et  cohaerentibus  aedificiis :  as  in  the  "  blocks  "  in 
our  larger  cities,  and  in  the  cities  and  towns  generally  in  Europe. 

5.  spatio :    a  court  or  yard.     English  yard,  German  Garten, 
Latin  hortus,  and  Greek  xV7"0*  are  all  traceable  to  an  Indo-Ger- 
manic  base  gharta,  '  a  place  surrounded.' 

6.  adversus  casus  ignis  remedium :    a  suggestion  based  on 
familiarity  with  Roman  fire  ordinances.     A  regulation  in  the 
Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  provides  for  a  space  of  5  feet  between 
the  outer  walls  of  adjacent  buildings.    However  the  statute  had 
evidently  become  a  dead  letter  before  the   time  of  Tacitus. 
After  the  fire  of  Nero,  one  of  the  precautions  taken  to  provide 
against  the  repetition  of  the  calamity  was  the  prohibition  of 
single  partition  walls;    see  Annales  15.43. 

The  wooden  houses  of  the  Germans  were,  of  course,  easily 
combustible,  but  the  explanation  of  the  practice  is  to  be  sought, 
at  least  partly,  in  the  racial  insistence  on  the  domestic  inde- 
pendence of  the  individual.  The  saying  "  An  Englishman's 
home  is  his  castle  "  illustrates  the  persistence  of  this  spirit  among 
Anglo-Saxons. 

8.  materia  :  timber.  —  inf ormi :  rough-hewn.  In  a  primitive 
type  of  German  house,  not  mentioned  by  Tacitus,  the  walls 
were  composed  of  a  kind  of  basketry,  which  was  covered  with 
clay.  —  citra :  lacking;  on  this  Tacitean  use  of  citra  instead 
of  sine,  see  Agricola  1.  12. 

10.  pura :  free  from  foreign  substances,  hence  it  could  be 
applied  in  a  smooth  coat.  —  ut  .  .  .  imitetur :  so  that  it  gives 
the  impression  of  painting  and  patterns  in  color. 


64  NOTES 

11.  subterraneos  specus :    utilized  by  various  races  in  an- 
tiquity for  different   purposes.     Xenophon  and  his  army  en- 
countered  them   in   Armenia,   where   they   served   at   once   as 
stables,  store-rooms,  and   places   of  abode.     Similar  chambers 
have  been  found  in  modern  times  in  these  regions ;    see  H.  F. 
Tozer,    Turkish  Armenia,  p.  396.     Vergil,  Georgics  3.  376,  de- 
scribes the  peoples  of  the  frozen  North  as  taking  their  ease  in 
defossis  specubus  .  .  .  sub  alta  .  .  .  terra.     Underground  rooms 
were  used  for  spinning  by  German  women,  ancient  and  medieval. 

12.  receptaculum  frugibus  :  cf .  Xenophon,  Anabasis  4.  5.  25  : 
4  In  these  underground  dwellings  were  wheat,  barley,  pulse,  and 
barley  wine  in  bowls.' 

15.    f  allunt :   escape  detection. 

Chapter  17. 
Clothing. 

1.  tegumen  omnibus :    the  distinctive  national  dress,  worn 
by  all  classes,  was  comparable  to  the  Roman  sagum,  a  short 
woolen  mantle,  fastened  only  at  the  neck  and  worn  especially 
by   soldiers   and   laborers.     Caesar,    Bellum  Gallicum   6.  21.  5, 
describes  the  Germans  as  clothed  in  skins  or  furs.  —  fibula : 
many    specimens,    made    of   various    metals    and   representing 
periods  of  technique  extending  from  the  early  bronze  age  to 
Roman   times,   have  been  found  in  graves.     For  the  various 
types  see  F.  Kauffmann,  Deutsche  Alter lumskunde,  vol.  1  (Munich, 
1913),  Plates  14,  22,  25,  and  32. 

2.  cetera :    otherwise;    this  applies  only  to  the  garb  worn  in 
the  house.  —  totos  dies  .  .  .  agunt :    some  editors  take  ago  in 
its   common   intransitive   sense,    equal   to   vivere,   and   explain 
dies  as  an  accusative  of  duration.     However,  such  passages  as 
Dialogus  7,  non  diem  laetiorem  egi,    Historiae  3.  38,  quod  .  .  . 
laetos  dies  ageret,  and   Historiae  2.  49,  noctem  quietam  .  .  .  egit, 
strongly  support  the  alternative  view. 

3.  locupletissimi  veste   distinguuntur :    veste  is  the   keyword 
of  the  sentence.     The  obvious  implication  is  that  vestis,  i.e. 
underwear,  consisting  of  tunic  and  leggings,  of  woven  material, 
was  worn  only  by  the  very  rich.     Common  sense,   however, 
would  forbid  us  to  infer  that  the  sagum  was  the  sole  out-door 


NOTES  65 

apparel  of  the  masses,  at  least  in  severe  weather.  Even  a  primi- 
tive people  suits  its  costume  to  the  climate.  Those  Germans 
who  could  not  afford  or  obtain  cloth,  substituted  skins,  and 
since  this  undoubtedly  included  the  majority  of  the  population, 
Caesar's  generalization,  referred  to  above,  had  some  justifica- 
tion. —  non  fluitante :  referring  not  so  much  to  the  flowing 
garments  in  general  characteristic  of  Oriental  garb  as  to  the 
loose  trousers,  anaxyrides,  which,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Greeks  and 
the  Romans,  formed  the  outstanding  feature  of  the  costume 
of  the  Eastern  peoples. 

5.  gerunt :   sc.  Germani. 

6.  neglegenter  .  .  .  exquisitius :     among    the    peoples    who 
dwelt  near  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube  and  had  become  familiar 
with  civilized  garb,   skins  were  no  longer  highly  esteemed  as 
articles  of  apparel,  hence  those  who  wore  them  were  careless  in 
their  choice.     Tribes  that  lived  apart  from  the  zone  of  Roman 
influence  and  trade  were  discriminating. 

7.  cultus :    finery.  —  velamina :    a  poetic  word,  chosen  not 
only  because  of  our  author's  partiality  for  novel  locutions  but 
also  because  it  can  be  applied  alike  to  the  skins  and  to  the  gar- 
ments made  from  them.     Our  English  word  "  vestures  "  might 
suggest  the  stylistic  effect. 

8.  spargunt :  Vergil,  Eclogues  2.  41,  writes  of  the  dappled  roe  : 
capreoli  sparsis  etiam  nunc  pellibus  albo  ('  roes  with  their  skins 
even  now  dappled  with  white').  —  maculis  pellibusque :    hen- 
diadys  for  maculis  pellium.     Pieces  cut  from  the  skins  of  animals 
not  native  to  Germany  were  attached  to  the  original  pelt ;  being 
different  from  it  in  color,  these  patches  are  called  maculae.  — 
beluarum :     we   may   conjecture    that   seals   were   among   the 
animals  here  alluded  to ;    the  ideas  of  Tacitus  as  to  the  genus 
and  species  of  his  beluae  were  probably  vague  enough. 

9.  Oceanus  atque  ignotum  mare :   as  in  chap.  2.  4  f.,  adver- 
sus   Oceanus  .  .  .  praeter   periculum  .  .  .  ignoti  marts,   the  far 
reaches  of  the  mysterious  Northern  Ocean,  the  mare  pigrum 
et  grave  of   Agricola  10.  20,  are  doubtless  meant.  —  nee  alius 
feminis  quam  viris  habitus  :   this  is  also  true  of  the  Eskimo. 

10.  saepius  :     rather  frequently.  —  lineis    amictibus  :     taking 
the  place  of  the  woolen  sagum  as  outer  garment. 


66  NOTES 

/ 

11.  purpura  :   a  red  border  or  stripe. 

12.  vestitus  :  like  vestis  above,  the  undergarment.  —  superioris  : 
at  its  upper    edge.  —  in   manicas    non    extendunt :    implying, 
therefore,  an  opposite  arrangement  in  the  case  of  the  men's 
tunic. 

Chapter  18. 

Marriage  customs. 

1.    quamquam :    and  yet;    the  apparent  lack  of  modesty  in 
costume  was  not  accompanied  by  moral  laxity. 

4.  non  libidine :    by  anticipation  of  the  following  clause,  the 
polygamy  is  viewed  as  consummated.     Supply  in  translation, 
"who    resort    to    polygamy.'' -— plurimis    nuptiis    ambiuntur : 
are  the  objects  of  solicitation  for  plural  marriage.     As  an  his- 
torical instance  of  a  polygamous  marriage  initiated  for  reasons 
of   state,   recall   Caesar,   Bellum   Gallicum    1.53:   duae  fuerunt 
Ariovisti  uxores  .  .  .  alter  a   Norica,  regis  Voccionis  soror,  quam 
in  Gallia  duxerat  a  fratre  missam. 

5.  dotem  non  uxor  marito :    in  contrast  with  the  classical 
Greek  and  Roman  practice,  according  to  which  the  marriage 
of  a  portionless  woman  was  well  nigh  unthinkable.     The  action 
in  the  Trinummus  of  Plautus  centers  in  such  a  proposal,  re- 
garded by  the  brother  and  the  guardian  of  the  bride-to-be  as 
spelling  family  disgrace  ;   see,  e.g.,  line  612,  flagitium  quidem  hercle 
fiet,  nisi  dos  dabitur  virgini  ('  it  will  be  a  sin  out  and  out  if  a 
dowry   isn't   given   to   the   maiden'). — uxori   maritus   oflfert : 
Tacitus  describes  inexactly  the  marriage  by  purchase,  prevalent 
in  his  time  in  Germany.     This  usage,  which  in  primitive  society 
succeeded  marriage  by  capture,  was  in  vogue  in  Homeric  Greece 
and  existed  among  the  Thracians  in  the  time  of  Xenophon, 
to  whom  Seuthes  says,  Anabasis  7.  2.  38, '  If  you  have  a  daughter, 
I  will  buy  her  according  to  the  Thracian  custom.'     The  dos 
constituted  the  price  paid  for.  the  transfer  of  the  woman  from 
the  potestas  of  her  father  to  that  of  her  husband ;    it  was  not 
paid  to  her,  as  Tacitus  says,  but  to  her  parents.     The  inaccuracy 
of  Tacitus  is  due  to  his  desire  to  make  the  contrast  between 
Roman  and  German  practice  as  pointed  as  possible.     A  later 
step  involved  giving  the  portion  or' a  part  of  it  to  the  bride. 


NOTES  67 

6.  munera:  repeated  for  the  sake  of  emphasis.     Such  anaphora 
is  a  favorite  device  of  the  poets,  notably  at  the  ending  and  the 
beginning  of  lines  ;   e.g.  Catullus,  63.  8-9  : 

niveis  citata  cepit  manibus  leve  typanum, 
typanum,  tubam  Cybelles,  et  cet. 

('  in  his  hands  white  as  snow  he  quickly  grasped  the  light  tympa- 
num, the  tympanum,  trumpet  of  Cybele  ').  Vergil,  Aeneid  2. 
405-6: 

ad  caelum  tendens  ardentia  lumina  frustra, 
lumina,  nam  teneras  arcebant  vincula  manus. 

7.  ad  delicias  muliebres :    a  disparaging  side  glance  at  the 
jewels  and  the  other  articles  of  adornment  prized  by  the  bride 
of  civilization. 

9.  in  haec  munera :   on  proviso  of  these  gifts. 

10.  armorum  aliquid  viro  adf ert :    a  sword  was  given,  not  by 
the  bride  but  by  the  bride's  father,  in  token  of  the  power  of 
life  and  death  which  the  husband  was  henceforth  to  possess 
over  her.     The  interpretation  put  by  Tacitus  on  the  custom 
is  that  which  best  accords  with  his  idealizing  tendency. 

A  spear  figured  in  the  Roman  marriage  ceremony,  not,  how- 
ever, as  a  gift ;  the  hair  of  the  bride  was  parted  with  it,  a  cere- 
mony ordinarily  explained  as  a  reminiscence  of  the  days  of 
marriage  by  capture. 

11.  haec  arcana   sacra :    Tacitus  alludes  to  the  traditional 
form  of  patrician  marriage,  the  confarreatio,  a  ceremony  which 
partook  of  a  sacramental  character  and  was  celebrated  with 
religious  rites    (arcana  sacra)   in  the  presence  of  the   Flamen 
Dialis.  —  coniugales  decs :    the  divinities  invoked  in  the  mar- 
riage formula,  such  as  Jupiter  Farreus,  Juno  Pronuba,  and  the 
agrarian  deities  Tellus,  Picumnus,  and  Pilumnus ;    in  the  time 
of  the  Empire  we  hear  also  of  Venus,  Suadela,  and  Diana  as 
patron  goddesses  of  marriage. 

12.  extra  virtutum   cogitationes :    untouched  by  the  concerns 
of  heroism.     It  is  interesting  to  compare  with  the  thought  of 
this  context  one  of   the   explanations  hazarded  by  Plutarch, 
Roman  Questions  87,  as  to  why  the  hair  of  the  Roman  bride 
was  parted  with  a  spear :    '  Is  it  that  they  may  instruct  them 


68  NOTES 

that  they  are  to  dwell  with  husbands  that  are  soldiers  and 
warriors  and  that  they  should  put  on  such  ornamental  attire 
as  is  not  luxurious  but  plain  ?  '  Chauncy's  translation. 

14.  auspiciis :  an  apposite  word,  suggested  by  the  place  of 
the  auspicia  in  the  Roman  marriage  ceremony.  Originally 
the  auspices  were  taken  as  an  essential  preliminary  to  the  rite ; 
in  the  time  of  Cicero  divination  from  entrails  had  superseded 
the  auspicia  proper  and  even  this  was  not  invariably  resorted 
to;  see  De  Divinatione  1.  chap.  16.  In  the  Empire,  though 
the  practice  itself  seems  to  have  fallen  into  disuse,  traces  of  it 
survived  in  the  participation  in  the  ceremony,  as  sponsors  and 
witnesses,  of  the  so-called  auspices  nuptiarum.  Hence  auspiciis 
here  should  not  be  translated  merely  by  the  beginning  but  rather 
by  the  initial  ceremonial.  Incipientis  is  redundant. 

17.  denuntiant :    proclaim. 

18.  quae :   serving  in  a  double  capacity  as  object  of  accipiant 
and  subject  of  referantur. 

Chapter   19. 

Feminine  morality  ;    moral  standards. 

Throughout  the  following  eulogy  of  German  womanhood, 
Tacitus  by  implication  is  arraigning  the  decadent  morality  of 
Roman  society. 

1.  ergo  :  marking  the  features  of  German  life  set  forth  in  this 
chapter  as  consequent  on  the  sanctity  of  the  marriage  relation 
discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  —  saepta  pudicitia  agunt : 
they  live  a  life  of  sheltered  modesty.  —  spectaculorum  .  .  . 
ir.ritationibus :  the  public  spectacles  and  luxurious  banquets 
were  prolific  sources  of  social  depravity  under  the  Empire,  as 
many  allusions  in  the  poets  and  satirists  show.  See  Fried- 
lander,  Roman  Life  and  Manners  under  the  Early  Empire,  Eng. 
Trans.,  1,  p.  245  f. 

3.  litterarum  secreta :  secret  missives;  Tacitus  does  not  say 
that  the  Germans  did  not  know  how  to  write,  though  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  this  was  the  case,  generally  speaking,  but 
simply  that  they  were  not  schooled  in  the  use  of  the  billet  doux 
as  an  instrument  of  intrigue.  Ovid's  Amores  1.  11  and  12  are 
literary  illustrations  of  the  device. 


NOTES  69 

5.  praesens  et  maritis  permissa:    the  Lex  lulia,  enacted  by 
Augustus  in  17  B.C.,  restricted  such  private  vengeance  in  Rome 
and  subjected  the  offender  to  due  process  of  criminal  law.     In 
earlier  times  the  husband,  by  virtue  of  the  patria  potestas  which 
he  possessed,  could  slay  a  guilty  wife  at  once. 

6.  nudatam  .  .  .  expellit :     according   to   Maspero,    Peuples 
de  VOrient,  1,  p.  736,  in  ancient  Chaldaea  an  adulterous  woman, 
clothed  only  in  a  loin  cloth,  was  driven  into  the  street,  and  left 
to  the  mercy  of  the  passers-by. 

7.  publicatae  .  .  .  venia :    for  the  surrender  of  chastity  meets 
with  no  mercy.     The  harshness,  as  judged  by  the  Roman  stand- 
ards of  the  time  of  Tacitus,  of  the  punishment  meted  out  to 
the  adulteress,  is  explained  by  this  generalizing  comment  on  the 
uncompromising   attitude   of   the   Germans   toward   the  fallen 
woman,  married  or  single.     This  attitude  is  elucidated  by  the 
context  following. 

8.  aetate :   youth. 

9.  invenerit :    the  subject  for  the  moment  uppermost  in  the 
mind  of  Tacitus  is  the  unmarried  woman  who  has  lost  her  virtue ; 
naturally,    he   intended   that   the   reader    should   regard   it   as 
self-evident   in   the  light   of   the  context   that   the   denounced 
adultera  could  not  hope  for  a  second  husband.  —  nemo  .  .  . 
ridet :    a  pessimist's   side  thrust  at   the  Roman  code  of  social 
ethics. 

10.  saeculum :    the  spirit  of  the  times  or  the  way  of  the  world; 
cf .  Pliny,  Epistulae  10.  97  :  nam  et  pessimi  exempli  nee  nostri  saeculi 
est  ('  for  (such  an  act)  is  of  the  nature  of  the  worst  precedent 
possible  and  is  not  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  our  age  ').  — 
melius  quidem  adhuc :   still  better  even;   supply  faciunt  or  a  like 
verb. 

With  the  frequency  of  divorce  and  remarriage  in  Roman 
society  in  mind,  Tacitus  speaks  with  approval  of  the  lengths  to 
which  conjugal  loyalty  was  carried  by  the  women  —  nothing  is 
said  as  to  the  men  —  of  certain  states  in  which  the  remarriage 
of  widows  was  frowned  on.  Such  imposition  of  wifely  loyalty 
has  expressed  itself  variously  among  different  races,  in  the  social 
neglect  and  degradation  of  the  widow,  in  her  enforced  suicide ; 
cf.  the  Suttee  of  the  Hindoo  widow. 


70  NOTES 

12.  semel  transigitur  :  an  end  is  made  once  for  all.  The  spirit 
of  devotion  which  kept  a  woman  content  with  one  marriage  was 
highly  approved  by  the  Romans  themselves  in  early  times  (see 
Valerius  Maximus,  2.  1.  3),  nor  was  appreciation  of  it  entirely 
foreign  to  social  ideals  under  the  Empire,  as  the  frequent  recur- 
rence in  epitaphs  of  the  epithet  univira  shows  ;  cf .  also  Propertius 
in  the  beautiful  Consolatio  Quintiliae  4.  11.  36 ;  also  67-68 : 

filia  .  .   . 

fac  teneas  unum  nos  imitata  virum 

('  Daughter  .  .  .  look  to  it  that  in  emulation  of  me,  you  cleave 
to  one  husband  ').  Such  writers  as  Juvenal,  with  his  reference, 
Satires  6.  229-230,  to  a  woman  who  had  eight  husbands  in  five 
years,  and  Seneca,  in  his  satirical  allusion  to  women  reckoning 
years  by  their  husbands  instead  of  in  terms  of  the  consuls,  pre- 
sent a  too  dark  picture ;  cf .  Seneca,  De  Beneficiis  3.  16. 

14.  longior  cupiditas  :   nursing  of  desire. 

15.  tamquam  .  .  .  ament :   they  are  enamored  not  with  the 
man  qua  man,  but  with  the  idea  of  marriage  which  he  makes 
possible;    cf.  our  English  saying  "  to  be  in  love  with  love."  - 
numerum  liberorum  finire :    in  contrast  with  the  race   suicide 
rife  in  Roman  society  under  the  Empire.     It  was  to  offset  this 
menace  that  Augustus  enacted  a  body  of  laws,  including  the 
celebrated  Lex  Papia  Poppaea  (cf.  on  Agricola  6.  3),  by  which 
he  sought  to  foster  parenthood  by  imposing  disabilities  on  celi- 
bates  and   childless    persons,    and   conferring   prerogatives   on 
fathers  of  families. 

16.  adgnatis :    here  in  the  sense  of  younger  children,  born 
after  the  heir.  —  necare  flagitium  habetur :   in  his  zeal  for  ideal- 
izing German  folkways  at  the  expense  of  Roman,  Tacitus  has 
fallen  into  misstatement.     Exposing  infants  at  the  behest  of 
the  father  —  a  practice  the  legal  justification  of  which  was  a 
blot  on  ancient  civilization  in  general  —  obtained  among  the 
Germans  as  well  as  elsewhere.     On  the  reported  prevalence  of 
infanticide  in  Rome  in  the  days  of  the  Empire,  see  Lecky,  His- 
tory of  European  Morals,  2.  chap.  4.  p.  24  f. 

18.  bonae  leges :  such  as  the  Lex  Papia  Poppaea;  for  the 
sentiment  compare  Propertius,  4.  11.  47-48: 


NOTES  71 

mi  natura  dedit  leges  a  sanguine  ductas 
ne  possem  melior  iudids  esse  metu 

('  to  me  nature  gave  a  code  derived  from  my  blood,  making  me 
a  woman  beyond  the  possibility  of  betterment  through  fear  of 
a  judge  '). 

Note  the  epigrammatic  and  rhetorically  balanced  structure  of 
this  closing  sentence  of  the  chapter. 

Chapter  20. 
Child  nurture ;    laws  of  relationship  and  inheritance. 

1.  in   omni   domo :    among  rich  and  poor  alike.  —  nudi  ac 
sordid! :   to  take  these  epithets  literally  is  not  to  do  violence  to 
the  probabilities.     This  is  the  system  (?)  of  child  nurture  usual 
among  a  primitive  people,  and  that,  after  all,  is  what  the  Ger- 
mans of  Tacitus  were.     Note  in  this  connection  the  following: 
"  Children  of  the  Eskimo  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Greenland  go 
naked  in  the  house  until  they  are  sixteen  years  old.     Then  they 
put  on  the  natit  (loin-cloth)  and  that  is  the  only  thing  worn  in 
the  house  by  adults.     It  is  the  custom  of  wearing  fur  next  the 
skin  (see  note  on  17.  3)  which  compels  them  to  go  naked  in  the 
house."     W.  G.  Sumner,  Folkways,  p.  441. 

2.  quemque  mater  .  .  .  alit :  referred  to  in  Dialogue  28  as  an 
old-time  Roman  virtue.     The  discontinuance  of  this  practice 
was  deplored  by  educational  theorists,  especially  because  of  the 
supposed  deleterious  effects  on  the  mentality  and  character  of 
the  rising  generation  incurred  by  intrusting  children  to  the  care 
of  hirelings  ;    cf .    Agricola  4.  8 ;     Dialogus  29 ;    Plutarch,    Dis- 
course on  the  Training  of  Children,  chap.  5. 

3.  nee  ancillis  ac  nutricibus  :   cf .  the  language  of  Dialogus  28 : 
Nam  pridem   suus  cuique  filius  ex  casta  parenle  natus,  non  in 
cellula    emptae    nutricis    sed   gremio    ac   sinu   matris    educabatur 
('  In  the  good  old  days,  every  man's  son,  born  in  wedlock,  was 
brought  up  not  in  the  chamber  of  some  hireling  nurse,  but  in 
his  mother's  lap  and  at  her  knee '-— Peterson) ;  29:  At  nunc 
natus  infans  delegatur  Graeculae  alicui  ancillae  ('  Nowadays,  on 
the  other  hand,  our  children  are  handed  over  at  their  birth  to 
some  silly  little  Greek  serving-maid  '  -—  Peterson).  —  dominum: 
strictly,  in  old-time  Southern  parlance,  the  "  young  master." 


72  NOTES 

4.  educationis  deliciis :  by  any  refinements  in  their  up-bring- 
ing. As  a  rule,  in  primitive  societies  the  slave  is  treated  as  only 
a  slightly  inferior  member  of  the  family.  See  for  a  full  discus- 
sion of  this  topic  Westermarck,  The  Origin  and  Development 
of  the  Moral  Ideas,  vol.  1,  p.  678  f.  The  verna,  or  house-born 
slave,  was  proverbially  a  privileged  character  in  Roman  private 
life;  cf.  the  picture  of  the  idyllic  life  in  Tibullus,  1.  5.25-26: 

.  .  .  consuescet  amantis 

garrulus  in  dominae  ludere  verna  sinu,  et  seq. 

('  the  prattling  home-born  slave  child  will  be  wont  to  frolic  on 
the  lap  of  the  doting  mistress  '). 

6.  inter  eadem  pecora :  as  travelers  can  testify,  among  the 
peasantry  of  many  a  country  to  this  day  "  quarters  for  man 
and  beast"  are  not  separate.  —  humo  :  the  dirt  floor  of  the 
homestead. 

6.  sera  .  .  .  venus:    according   to  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum 
6.  21,  marriage  before  the  twentieth  year  was  strongly  discoun- 
tenanced. 

7.  nee  .  .  .  f estinantur :      another     contrast     with     Roman 
custom ;  Agricola's  daughter  was  thirteen  when  Tacitus  married 
her  (see  note  on  Agricola  9.  24),  and  instances  of  earlier  mar- 
riages are  plentiful. 

8.  eadem  iuventa :    i.e.  the  age  of  maturity  was  reached  no 
sooner  by  women  than  by  men,  a  condition  of  affairs  grounded 
on  arbitrary  theory  and  not  on  physiological  facts.     In  an  old 
poem,  entitled    Dietrichs  Flucht,  thirty  years  is  mentioned  as 
the  marriageable  age  of  both  sexes  in  the  good  old  times ;    a 
similar  view  held  good  in  Italy  in  the  thirteenth  century ;    see 
Weinhold,  Die  Deutsche  Frauen  in  dem  Mittelalter,  3d  ed.,  p.  266. 
—  pares  :   sc.  aetate. 

9.  sororum  filiis  .  .  .  apud  avunculum  .  .  .  honor :    at  dif- 
ferent periods  of  culture  and  among  various  races  of  mankind, 
descent  and  inheritance  have  been  reckoned  through  the  mater- 
nal side.     This  system,  termed  formerly  the  matriarchate,  but 
recently  and  more  correctly  the  mother-right  or  the  mother- 
family,  existed,  e.g.  among  the  Lycians  of   Herodotus,  1.  173, 
among  the  ancient  Arabs  (see  Robertson  Smith,    Kinship  and 


NOTES  73 

Marriage  in  Early  Arabia)  as  well  as  other  Semitic  races,  and  is 
found  in  certain  savage  and  semi-civilized  peoples  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  Under  it  the  mother's  brother  (avunculus)  naturally 
tends  to  stand  in  such  a  close  relation  to  his  sister  and  her 
children  as  is  described  in  this  sentence.  E.g.  a  modern  Abys- 
sinian proverb  runs  "  the  maternal  uncle  has  children  without 
begetting  them  "  (communicated  to  the  editor  by  Professor  E. 
Littmann). 

The  present  context  has  been  frequently  cited  as  proof  that 
the  mother-right  prevailed  among  prehistoric  Germans  and 
survived  in  the  time  of  Tacitus  to  the  degree  here  indicated. 
However,  the  existence  of  the  institution  among  Indo-Europeans 
has  not  been  certainly  demonstrated.  It  is  safer,  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge,  to  assume  that  the  position  occupied 
by  a  brother  as  "  next  friend  "  of  his  sister  and  her  offspring, 
originated  in  the  desirability  of  a  wife  and  her  children  having 
some  representative  to  champion  their  interests  against  a  too 
rigorous  exercise  of  the  husband's  potestas,  or,  in  the  event  of 
his  death,  to  maintain  a  son's  right  of  inheritance  against  his 
father's  kinsfolk.  The  fact  that  after  the  death  of  her  father  a 
maiden  passed  legally  into  the  guardianship  of  her  eldest  brother, 
may  also  have  been  a  contributory  cause. 

10.  ad :  not  infrequently  in  Latin  of  various  periods,  ad  has 
the  sense  of  apud;  e.g.  Plautus,  Captivi  699,  in  libertatest  ad 
patrem  in  patria;  Livy,  7.  7,  neque  segnius  ad  hostes  bellum  ap- 
paratur;  Tacitus,  Annales  1.  8,  iactantia  gloriaque  ad  posteros. 
Here  the  change  is  made  for  variety's  sake.  —  quidam :  certain 
tribes  of  Germany  or  the  leaders  who  represent  them  in  negotia- 
tions. 

12.  tamquam  .  .  .  teneant :   expressing  the  conviction  of  the 
persons  represented  in  quidam.     Make  this  fact  clear  in  trans- 
lation. 

13.  domum  latius :    as  tending  to  secure  the  loyalty  of  both 
the  paternal  and  the  maternal  side  of  the  house. 

14.  tamen :    notwithstanding  the  intimate  relation  existing 
between  maternal  uncle  and  nephew,   the  privileges  of  inheri- 
tance and  succession  were  not  affected.     These  were  resident 
in    the    paternal    line.  —  nullum    testamentum :     inheritance, 


74  NOTES 

which  followed  the  male  line,  was  regulated  by  consanguinity 
only,  and  legacies  to  others  than  kinsmen  were  unknown. 

17.  adfinium :     connections     by     marriage.  —  gratiosior :     the 
more  an  object  of  esteem. 

18.  nee  ulla  orbitatis  pretia :    in  Roman  society  the  childless 
rich    were    overwhelmed    by    the    blandishments    of    would-be 
heirs.     Allusions  to  the  legacy  hunter  or  captator  are  common- 
places in  the  literature  of  the  Empire ;   Horace,  Satires  2.  5,  is  a 
jocular  ars  captandi  "  testamenta  senum  "  and  the  Regulus  of 
Pliny,  Epistulae  2.  20,  is  a  type  of  the  profession. 

Chapter  21. 

Blood  feuds ;  hospitality. 

Friendships   and   enmities   are   also   objects   of   inheritance ; 
herein  lies  the  nexus  between  this  chapter  and  the  preceding. 

1.  inimicitias :   the  later  Latin  equivalent  in  the  German  laws 
was  faida,  whence  Mod.  Ger.  Fehde,  Eng.  feud.     The  doctrine 
that  the  infliction  of  vengeance  is 'the  right  and  the  duty  of  the 
kinsmen  of  the  victim  was  axiomatic  in  early  stages  of  society 
and  has  been  perpetuated  among  races  who  have  attained  a 
high  degree  of  culture,  e.g.  the  ancient  Greeks  and  the  Japanese. 
The  Corsican  vendetta,  the  family  feuds  of  the  Scottish  clans, 
and  of  their  descendants,   the   southern  mountaineers  in  this 
country,  are  modern  survivals  of  this  custom  of  blood  revenge. 
This  subject  is  discussed  at  length  by  Westermarck,  The  Origin 
and  the  Development  of  the  Moral  Ideas,  chap.  20. 

2.  necesse  est :  it  is  obligatory.  —  nee :  a  negative  adversative 
—  and  yet  .  .  .  not. 

3.  luitur :    in  the  evolution  of  society  it  was  seen  that  the 
acceptance  of  material  compensation  in  the  form  of  cattle,  money, 
or  other  property  offered  a  means  of  escape  from  the  dangers 
and  inconveniences  attendant  on  the  view  that  an  injury  can 
be  canceled  only    by   the   infliction   of  a   like    injury.     Blood 
revenge  or  acceptance  of  compensation  was  ordinarily  at  the 
option    of    the    injured    party.     The    German    term,    Wergeld, 
applied   to    this    compensation,    Latin   satisfactio,    compensatio, 
means  '  man-price.'     The  system  can  only  flourish  where  there 
is  a  certain  amount   of  wealth. : —  armentorum   ac   pecorum : 


NOTES  75 

Wergeld  was  naturally  computed  in  terms  of  the  prevalent 
standard  of  valuation.  Compensatory  damages  varied  with  the 
rank  of  the  victim. 

4.  universa  domus :    responsibility  in  a  blood  feud  is  collec- 
tive and  rests  on  the  family ;  hence  all  those  concerned  share  in 
the  settlement. 

5.  utiliter    in    publicum :     characterizing    the    compensatory 
system  as  a  whole,  not  simply  the  detail  last  mentioned,  satis- 
factionem  .  .  .  domus.     Compare  with  this  context  the  following 
comment  of  Westermarck,  op.  cit.,  p.  485 :    "  Whilst  the  carry- 
ing out  of  the  doctrine  a  '  life  for  a  life  '  often  leads  to  pro- 
tracted   hostilities   between   the   parties,    compensation   has   a 
tendency  to  bring  about  a  durable  peace.     For  this  reason  it  is 
to  the  interest  of  society  at  large  (editor's  italics)  to  encourage  the 
latter  practice." 

6.  iuxta :    when  coupled  with;    the  absence  of  state  control 
would  tend  toward  individual  excess  in  enmity. 

7.  convictibus  et  hospitiis :    the  former  word  refers  broadly 
to  occasions  of  good  cheer,  convivial  entertainments ;   the  latter 
to  the  reception  of  strangers,  a  topic  to  which  the  rest  of  this 
chapter  is  devoted.  — •  effusius  indulget :    unquestioning  hospi- 
tality is  the  rule  in  primitive  societies.     The  twofold  meaning 
resident  in   Greek  £<f«>s,   Latin   hospes,   '  stranger    and    guest," 
attests  the  original  dominance  of  the  custom.     On  the  other 
hand  Latin  hostis,  akin  etymologically  to  German  Gast,  meant 
first  '  stranger,'  then  '  enemy.' 

Unlike  other  social  virtues,  hospitality  tends  to  decline  with 
the  advance  of  civilization,  when  increased  facility  of  inter- 
course between  communities  makes  strangers  less  of  a  novelty, 
and  the  establishment  of  public  places  of  entertainment  renders 
private  benevolence  less  essential. 

8.  nefas    habetur :     cf .    Caesar,    Bellum   Gallicum    6.  23.  9 : 
hospitem  violare  fas  non   (Germani)   putant.     Qui  quacumque  de 
causa  ad  eos  venerunt,  ab  iniuria  prohibent,  sanctos  habent  hisque 
omnium  domus  patent  victusque  communicatur. 

In  the  code  of  hospitality  kindly  treatment  of  the  guest  is  a 
moral  obligation,  sometimes  extended  so  far  as  to  necessitate 
the  reception  and  inviolability  of  a  foe.  Frequently,  the 


76  NOTES 

stranger  is  regarded  as  under  the  protection  of  the  gods  and 
hence  is  sacrosanct ;  we  may  recall  the  Zei)s  &lvios  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  dii  hospitales  of  the  Romans,  also  "  The  Lord  pre- 
serveth  the  strangers,"  Psalms  146.9,  and  Odyssey  9.  270: 
Zeds  .  .  .  £elvios  8s  l-elvoiffiv  fi/x  aldolouriv  d-jrrjdei  ('  Zeus  .  .  . 
protector  of  guests,  who  attendeth  on  revered  stranger 
guests'). 

9.  pro  fortuna  .  .  .  epulis  excipit :  "  Quelque  encombree 
que  soit  une  hutte  et  si  reduite  que  soit  la  quantite  d'aliments 
dont  on  dispose,  le  nouvel  arrivant  est  toujours  assure  d'avoir 
une  place  pres  du  foyer  et  une  part  de  la  nourriture."  Hyades 
and  Deniker,  Mission  Scientifique  du  Cap  Horn,  VII.  243.  — 
cum  defecere :  folk  custom,  instead  of  governing  the  length  of 
a  guest's  stay  by  the  contents  of  the  host's  larder  only,  fre- 
quently sets  a  definite  limit  for  the  dispensing  of  hospitality. 
Three  days  and  nights  was  a  period  accepted  by  several  races, 
including  the  later  Teutons. 

13.  quantum  ad  ius  hospitis  :  cf.  quantum  ad  gloriam,  Agricola 
44.  8.  —  abeunti :   so  often  in  the  Homeric  poems  it  is  etiquette 
for  the  host  to  speed  the    departing  guest  with   gifts,  £eiv^ta, 
(e.g.  Odyssey  4.  589  f. ;    24.  273   f. ;    285)  which,  however,  are 
usually  not  subject  to  the  option  of  the  guest,  although  in  4.  600 
Telemachus  excuses  himself  from  accepting  the  horses  and  char- 
iot offered  by  Menelaus,  who  thereupon  substitutes  other  pres- 
ents, 4.  612  f. 

14.  moris :     sc.    est.  —  poscendi   in   vicem :     an    exchange   of 
presents  between  host  and  guest,  not,  however,  the  result  of 
stipulation,  is  mentioned  in  Iliad  6.  218.     Among  some  peoples 
superstitious  dread  of  the  malevolent  power  with  which  it  is 
believed  a  stranger  is  endowed,  prevents  the  acceptance  of  gifts 
from  him,  lest  they  may  contain  the  potency  for  evil. 

15.  facilitas  :   freedom  from  constraint.  —  imputant :    set  down 
to  their  credit,  i.e.  the  donors  are  not  actuated  by  the  spirit  of 
quid  pro  quo. 

16.  victus  .  .  .  comis :   many  editors  regard  this  sentence  as 
a  mere  summary  of  the  thought  of  the  whole  paragraph  and 
have  taken  exception  to  it  as  superfluous  and  weak.     Rather,  it 
should  be  joined  closely  in  thought  with  the  preceding  sentence, 


NOTES  77 

the  asyndeton  having  the  force  of  nam;  cf.  Germania  22.  15-16  : 
et  salva  utriusque  temporis  ratio  est:  deliberant  .  .  .  constituunt; 
Historiae  3.  84 :  multis  increpantibus,  nullo  inlacrimante :  defor- 
mitas  exitus  misericordiam  abstulerat  ('  midst  the  jeers  of  many, 
(but)  with  dearth  of  tears ;  (for)  the  ignominy  of  his  end  had 
removed  compassion  '). 

The  sense  is  :  hospitality  is  not  governed  by  a  system  of  debits 
and  credits,  expressed  in  gifts ;  for  the  intercourse  between  host 
and  guest  is  gracious,  i.e.  based  on  kindliness,  not  on  mercenary 
considerations. 

Chapter  22. 

Daily  life. 

1.  statim  .  .  .  lavantur :  this  chapter  aims  to  present,  for 
the  edification  of  the  Roman  reader,  a  series  of  contrasts  between 
the  everyday  life  of  Roman  and  German.  Thus,  among  the 
Romans  the  customary  hour  for  the  bath  was  in  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon  just  before  cena  (see  Becker,  Gallus,  Eng.  trans., 
p.  396),  and  the  variation  which  naturally  followed  individual 
preference  and  habit,  does  not  seem  to  have  placed  it  much 
before  noon,  e.g.  in  the  case  of  Horace,  who  bathed  before 
prandium;  ast  iibi  me  fessum  sol  acrior  ire  lavatum  admonuit 
('  but  when  the  too  intense  heat  of  the  sun  has  warned  me  to 
betake  my  wearied  limbs  to  the  bath  '),  Satires  1.  6.  125.  The 
Elder  Pliny  had  finished  his  bath  by  the  seventh  hour  on  August 
24,  i.e.  12-1 :  09  P.M.  ;  cf.  Pliny,  Epistulae  6.  16.  4-5.  —  in  diem : 
among  the  Romans  of  all  classes  the  social  and  business  day  be- 
gan, as  a  rule,  with  the  sun  and  the  serious  occupations  of  the 
man  of  affairs  were  finished  correspondingly  early ;  note  the 
words  of  Pliny,  Epistulae  2. 17. 2  :  decem  et  septem  milibus  passuum 
ab  urbe  secessit  (Laurentinum),  ut  peractis  quae  agenda  fuerint 
salvo  et  composito  die  possis  ibi  manere  ('  (my  Laurentine  villa) 
is  distant  seventeen  miles  from  the  city ;  hence,  after  dispatch- 
ing the  program  of  business,  one  can  take  up  one's  sojourn  there 
and  not  lose  the  day's  work  or  leave  it  unfinished  ') ;  Horace, 
Epistulae  1.  17.  6,  mentions  sleep  primam  in  horam  as  a  comfort- 
able night's  rest.  The  hardships  which  the  necessity  for  early 
rising  inflicted  on  the  client  and  the  professional  man  are  a  fa- 


78  NOTES 

vorite  topic  in  the  literature  of  the  Empire ;  cf .  Horace,  Satires 
I.  1.  10;  2.  6.  34;  Juvenal,  Satires  5.  19-23. 

2.  saepius  calida :    sc.  quam  aqua  frigida.     The  language  of 
Tacitus  does  not  forbid  the  reader  to  assume  that,  at  least  at 
certain  seasons  of  the  year,  the  Germans  resorted  to  bathing  in 
the  rivers.     Hence  there  is  no  essential  variance  with  Caesar's 
account,    Bellum  Gallicum  4.  1.  10  :    ut  frigidissimis   locis  .  .  . 
(Suebi)  lavarentur  in  fluminibus;  6.  21.  5  :  (Germani)  .  .  .  pro- 
miscue  in  fluminibus  perluuntur.     The  different  purpose  of  each 
author  leads  him  to  emphasize  different  features  of  the  Ger- 
mans'  practice. 

3.  separatae  .  .  .  sedes :     contrast    the    Roman    triclinium, 
three  guests  to  each  couch. 

4.  sua  cuique  mensa :    so  in  the  Odyssey  each  banqueter  has 
an  individual  table;    cf.  1.  Ill ;    20.  259,  and  especially  22.  74, 
where  the  suitors  use   their  tables  as  shields.  — -  negotia  .  .  . 
convivia :   as  is  made  clear  below,  the  two  were  often  combined. 

5.  armati :    cf .  13.  1  :  nihil  autem  neque  publicae  neque  privatae 
rei  nisi  armati  agunt.  —  diem  noctemque  continuare  :    to  make 
day  and  night  one.     In  Rome  good  form  disapproved  of  the 
tempestivum  convivium,  a  banquet  which  "  began  early  to  last 
late  "  ;  participation  in  such  entertainments  was  one  of  the  hall- 
marks of  a  dissolute  life  ;  cf.  Cicero,  Pro  Archia  13  ;   Ad  Alticum 
9.  1.  3;     Suetonius,    Caligula    45;     Tacitus,     Historiae    2.68. 
The  comment  of  Horace,  Satires  1.  4.  51  f.,  on  conviviality  by 
daylight,    is    typical :    At  pater  ardens    saevit    quod  .  .  .  ebrius 
(filius)  et  magnum  quod  dedecus  ambulet  ante  noctem  cum  facibus, 
et  seq.     ('  But    the  wrathful    father    storms    because  .  .  .  his 
tipsy  son  parades  the  streets  with  torches  before  nightfall  —  a 
dire  disgrace  '). 

6.  crebrae  ut  inter  vinolentos  rixae :   cf.  Horace,  Odes  3.  21. 
1-3  to  the  wine  jar  : 

0  nata  mecum  consule  Manlio 
seu  tu  querellas  sive  geris  iocos, 
sen  rixam  el  insanos  amores 

('  O  thou  that  saw  the  light  with  me  when  Manlius  was  consul, 
whether  thou  hast  in  store  plaints  or  mirth,  whether  brawl  and 


NOTES  79 

frenzied  loves  ') ;  also  Odes  1.  18.  8.  For  this  use  of  ut  see 
Germania  2.  14. 

7.   transiguntur  :   are  dispatched. 

9.  adsciscendis  principibus  :  adopting  leaders  or  forming  rela- 
tionships with  leaders.  The  expression  is  apparently  chosen  to 
emphasize  the  extent  to  which  power  of  decision  rested  with  the 
constituency  and  is  widely  comprehensive.  Such  alliances  with 
principes  of  other  tribes,  as  are  mentioned  in  chap.  14,  could 
come  under  this  head.  Probably,  however,  Tacitus  was  think- 
ing chiefly  of  the  canvassing  at  these  "  business  and  political 
dinners  "  of  the  merits  of  the  native  principes  available  for 
duces  in  war  or  for  district  judges  (chap.  12).  It  is  easily  con- 
ceivable that  the  party  strife  existing  between  rival  principes, 
such  as  is  attested  by  Annales  1.  58:  et  inieci  (Segestes)  catenas 
Arminio  et  a  factione  eius  iniectas  perpessus  sum  ('  I  both  put 
fetters  on  Arminius  and  suffered  those  placed  on  me  by  his 
partisans  '),  was  a  prolific  source  of  "  rixae  "  between  their 
adherents  on  these  occasions. 

11.  simplices :    guileless.     They  acted  in   the   spirit  of  the 
proverbial  in  vino  veritas  and  would  have  agreed  with  the  senti- 
ment of  Ovid,  Ars  Amatoria  1.  241-242 : 

tune  (i.e.  post  merum)  aperit  mentes  aevo  rarissima  nostra 

simplicitas,  artes  excutiente  deo  (Baccho) 

('  then  artlessness,  well  nigh  a  stranger  to  our  times,  unbars 
the  thoughts,  when  the  god  (of  wine)  doth  banish  wiles  '). 

12.  ad  magnas  incalescat :    quite  in  the  vein  of  the  famous 
lines  of  Burns, 

"  Inspiring,  bold  John  Barleycorn ! 
What  dangers  thou  canst  make  us  scorn," 

but  among  the  many  descriptions,  ancient  and  modern,  of  "the 
heart  who  great  and  puffed  up  with  this  retinue  doth  any  deed 
of  courage  and  this  valour  comes  of  sherris,"  Bacchylides,  Frag. 
20  (Blass)  has  not  been  improved  upon ;  '  That  power  sends  a 
man's  thoughts  soaring;  straightway  he  is  stripping  cities  of 
their  diadems  of  towers,  —  he  dreams  that  he  shall  be  monarch 
of  the  world ;  —  ...  such  are  the  raptures  of  the  reveller's 
soul.'  Jebb's  trans. 


80  NOTES 

13.  adhuc :   still;    there  is  a  contrast  between  the  candor  of 
the  simple-hearted  Germans  in  their  cups  and  the  reticence  of 
the   sophisticated   and   politic   man  of   civilization ;     see  Ovid, 
Ars    Amatoria    1.  241-2,    quoted    above,  aevo  rarissima  nostro 
simplicitas.  —  secreta  pectoris,  et  seq. :  a  sentiment  as  old  a,s 
Homer,  '  wildering  wine  that  sets  even  a  wise  man  on  to  sing 
aloud  .  .  .  and  uttereth  a  word  that  were  better  left  unsaid,' 
Odyssey  14.  463  f.,  and  often  repeated  since  but    never   more 
effectively  than  by  Horace  ;   cf.  Odes  3.  21.  14  f. : 

tu  sapientium 

curas  et  arcanum  iocoso 

consilium  retegis  Lyaeo 

('  thou  dost  unveil  the  broodings  of  the  wise  and  the  secret  pur- 
pose by  the  spell  of  the  jocund  Releaser  ') ;  see  also  Epistulae 
1.5.  16:  quid  non  ebrietas  designat?  Operta  recludit,  et  seq. 
('  what  doth  not  the  cups  disclose  ?  They  reveal  the  covert 
thought ') ;  cf.  also  Satires  1.  4.  89. 

These  parallels  have  been  quoted  to  show  how  through  this 
whole  context  Tacitus  writes  in  the  language  and  presents  the 
sentiments  of  the  literature  of  conviviality ;  the  parallels  fur- 
nish the  best  commentary  on  the  passage. 

14.  retractatur :     (the  discussion}  is  reopened. 

15.  salva  .  .  .  ratio  est :   the  regard  belonging  to  each  occasion 
is  preserved. 

16.  nesciunt :   in  poetry  nescire  is  often  used  as  a  synonym  of 
non  posse,  hence  here  nesciunt  commended  itself  as  a  variant  of 
the  following  non  possunt;   cf.  Vergil,  Georgics  3.  83-4:   turn,  si 
qua  sonum  procul  arma  dedere,  stare  loco  nescit  (equus) ;    Horace, 
Ars  PoeticaSQQ:  nescit  vox  missa  reverti;  for  a  similar  collocation 
of  the  two  verbs  see  Propertius,  1.5.  23-4:    nee   tibi   nobilitas 
poterit  succurrere  amanti;    nescit  Amor  priscis  cedere  imaginibus 
('  nor  will  high  lineage  have  power  to  rescue  thee  when  thou 
dost  love ;    Cupid  knoweth  not  surrender  unto  ancestral  por- 
traits'). —  dum    errare    non    possunt:     an    overstatement    for 
the  sake  of  an  epigrammatic  ending.     An  interesting  parallel 
to   this   whole   context   is  furnished   by   Plutarch's   discussion, 
Symposiaca  7.  9  and  10,  as  to  the  wisdom  of  following  the  custom 
of  the  Persians  and  "  debating  state  affairs  midst  the  cups." 


NOTES  81 

Chapter  23. 
Food  and  drink. 

1.  potui   umor  ex  hordeo :    beer ;  cf.   the  oTxoj  KptOivot  of  the 
ancient  Armenians,  Xenophon,   Anabasis  4.  5.  26,  and  Vergil's 
allusion  to  the  national  beverage  of  the  northern  peoples,  Georgics 
3.  379-380 : 

hie  noctem  ludo  ducunt  et  pocula  laeti 
fermento  (yeast  or  fermented  grain)  atque 

acidis  imitantur  vitea  sorbis. 

—  frumento :  i.e.  wheat,  in  practice  the  usual  connotation  of 
frumentum,  since  this  was  the  grain  ordinarily  served  out  as 
rations  in  the  Roman  armies  and  given  in  doles  to  the  citizens. 

—  in  .  .   .  similitudinem  vini :  cf .  Vergil's  pocula  imitantur  vitea. 

2.  proximi  ripae  :  this  same  expression  is  used  in  chap.  17.  5-6. 

—  vinum  mercantur :  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  4.  2.  6,  writes  of 
the  Suebi  of  his  time  :  vinum  omnino  ad  se  importari  non  patiuntur 
quod  ea  re  ad  laborem  ferendum  remollescere  homines  atque  effemi- 
nari  arbitrantur.     The  German  words  relating  to  the  culture  of 
the  grape  and  the  manufacture  of  wine  are  mostly  Latin  deriva- 
tives :  e.g.  Wein,  vinum;   Most,  mustum;  Keller,  cellarium,  et  cet. 

3.  poma :    not  only  the  fruits  of  trees,  such  as  apples,  pears, 
and  the  like,  but  also  berries  and  nuts.     There  is  no  equally 
comprehensive  word  in  English.  —  recens :    the  Romans  shared 
the  predilection  of  the  modern  palate  for  meat  rendered  tender 
by  "  hanging  "  and  even  tended  to  carry  the  appreciation  of  a 
gamey  flavor  to  extremes. 

4.  lac  concretum :   curds,  clotted  cream,  et  cet. ;  on  the  menu 
of  the  ancient  Germans  cf .  also  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  6.  22.  1 : 
maior  pars  eorum  victus  in  lacte,  caseo,  carne  consistit.  —  blandi- 
mentis :    whets  and  sauces  such  as  figured  extensively  in  the 
Roman  bill  of  fare ;   note  the  list  in  Horace,  Satires  2.  8.  8-9 : 

rapula,  lactucae,  radices,  qualia  lassum 
pervellunt  stomachum,  siser,  allec,  faecula  Coa 
('  rapes,   lettuce,   radishes,   such   condiments   as   stimulate   the 
jaded  stomach,  skirret,  fish-pickle,  tartar-lees  of  Coan  wine  '). 
7.   baud  minus  facile  .  .  .  vincentur :    this  sentence  was  ob- 
viously written  to  bring  the  chapter  to  an  epigrammatic  close, 


82  NOTES 

hence  the  meaning  of  facile  should  not  be  pressed.  Tacitus  did 
not  mean  that  the  Germans  could  be  conquered  easily  in  any 
case,  only  that  alcohol  would  be  as  effective  against  them  as 
would  armed  force ;  the  introduction  of  luxury  and  dissipation 
is  mentioned  also  as  an  agency  of  conquest  in  Agricola  21.  10  f. 

Chapter  24. 
National  amusements  and  games. 

1.  coetu :   social  gathering. 

2.  ludicrum  :   a  sport. 

3.  inf estas :    the  weapons  were  poised  so  as  to  point  at  the 
dancers  or  leapers.     Analogous  exhibitions  sometimes  occurred 
at  Greek  and  Roman  feasts;    cf.  Xenophon,  Symposium  2.  11, 
where  a  dancing  girl  performs  acrobatic  feats  in  and  out  from  a 
circle  of  upright  swords. 

4.  non  in  quaestum :   in  contrast  with  the  professional  enter- 
tainers at  Rome.     In  has  its  frequent  final  force. 

5.  quamvis :    its  force  is  limited  to  audacis;    cf.  ,the  use  of 
quamquam  in    Agricola   1.  3.  —  lasciviae  :     abandon.  —  pretium 
est  voluptas :   the  spear  dance,  in  origin  at  least,  was  probably  a 
religious   ceremony   connected   with   the   cult  of   the  war  god. 

6.  quod :    the  antecedent  is  the  idea  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing words.  —  inter  seria :    as  a  serious  occupation,  whereas  at 
Rome  gambling  was  a  feature  of  debauchery  and  the  gamester 
was  coupled,  in  the  opinion  of  the  respectable,  with  offenders  of 
the  worst  sort ;    cf .  Cicero,  Catiline  2.  23  :  in  his  gregibus  omnes 
aleatores,  omnes  adulteri,   omnes  impuri,   impudicique  versantur; 
Juvenal,  Satires  11.  176:  alea  turpis,  turpe  et  adulterium  medio- 
cribus.     In  Republican  times  dicing  was  forbidden  by  law  and 
Justinian  placed  legal  restrictions  on  it  in  the  late  Empire ;    at 
the  most,  it  was  countenanced  as  a  diversion  permissible  at 
times  of  festivity,  such  as  the  Saturnalia,  and  excess  exposed 
even   an   emperor   to   criticism,    as   we   learn   from   Suetonius, 
Augustus  71.     For  a  satirist's   account  as  to  its   prevalence  in 
the  society  of  Rome  at  the  time  of  Tacitus,  see  Juvenal,  1.  87-93. 

8.  extreme  ac  novissimo  iactu :  final,  decisive  throw. 

9.  corpora  :    life.     Power  of  punishment,  even  to  killing,  was 
vested  in  the  master.     Gambling  for  high  stakes  is  frequently 


NOTES  83 

a  racial  trait  of  barbarous  peoples ;  cf .  for  example,  Francis 
Parkman,  The  Jesuits  in  North  America,  Introd.  xxxvi :  "Lake  other 
Indians,  the  Hurons  were  desperate  gamblers,  staking  their  all,  — 
ornaments,  clothing,  canoes,  pipes,  weapons,  and  wives."  — vol- 
untariam  :  in  contrast  to  bondage  incurred  under  pressure  of  some 
external  agency,  as  capture  in  war  or  infliction  of  legal  penalty. 

10.  iuvenior :  this  form  occurs  only  in  writers  of  the  Empire. 
—  adligari :  if  we  may  judge  from  other  passages  in  which  this 
compound  occurs,  this  word  was  applied  in  a  technical  sense  to 
fettering  the  hands  and  feet  of  slaves. 

12.  per  commercia  :  cf .  Agricola  28.  15,  per  commertia  venum- 
datos  (servos) ;  39.  5,  emptis  per  commercia. 

As  a  rule  in  slave-holding  races,  intra-tribal  slaves  are  treated 
better  than  extra-tribal.  In  particular,  slave  debtors,  the  head 
under  which  the  slaves  of  the  class  here  described,  would  natu- 
rally fall,  are  treated  with  lenience,  being  often  as  little  restricted 
in  their  movements  and  existence  as  they  would  be  if  they  were 
free  agents.  Among  the  Israelites,  for  example,  the  native 
who  had  lost  his  liberty  through  debt  met  with  far  more  consid- 
eration than  slaves  of  foreign  extraction ;  see  Levit.  25.  39  f . 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave  brought  to  pass  in  the  way  described  between  two 
men  who  had  been  social  equals,  would  be  a  painful  and  difficult 
situation.  The  transfer  of  "  servi  huius  condicionis "  into  a 
bondage  removed  from  their  erstwhile  life,  and  the  motives 
which,  according  to  Tacitus,  actuated  their  sale,  find  an  instruc- 
tive analogy  in  old  Roman  practice.  That  a  Roman  should  be 
slave  to  a  fellow-citizen  was  repugnant  to  Roman  ideas ;  so 
it  was  that  in  Tabula  3  of  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  it  was 
ordained  that,  after  the  third  day,  the  debtor  who  had  been  made 
over  to  his  creditor  should  be  punished  with  death  or  sold  abroad, 
i.e.  trans  Tiberim;  see  Mackenzie,  Studies  in  Roman  Law,  p.  94. 

Chapter  26. 

Slaves  and  freedmen. 

1.  ceteris  servis :  turning  from  the  special  type  of  slave, 
whose  treatment  forms  a  case  apart,  to  the  status  of  the  ordinary 
slave  population.  —  descriptis  :  marked  out. 


£4  NOTES 

2.  familiam  :  the  staff  of  slaves  belonging  to  an  establishment. 
The  complexity  of  Roman  private  life  naturally  called  for  a  spe- 
cialization of  functions  as  between  the  familia  urbana  and  the 
familia  rustica  and  within  these  two  groups,  especially  the 
former ;  see  Sandys,  A  Companion  to  Latin  Studies,  Art.  539. 

—  suam  .  .  .  sedem  .  .  .  regit :     an    analogous    arrangement 
was  in  vogue  in  Italy,  where,  for  a  consideration  in  money  or 
produce,  a  slave  might  hold  and  work  a  parcel  of  land,  but  only 
on  sufferance  of  the  master.     Tityrus,  in  the  First  Eclogue  of 
Vergil,  is  such  a  slave  tenant.     However,  those  to  whom  Tacitus 
here,  in  want  of  a  better  word,  applies  the  generic  term  servi, 
were  a  grade  above  the  Italian  slave  farmer.     They  were  ac- 
tually held  in  serfdom  or  villeinage,  the  condition  into  which  in 
later   times   slavery   in   Europe   was   transformed.     Such   serfs 
were  bound  to  the  soil  and  liable  to  requisition  in  labor  or 
produce,  but  preserved  their  personal  freedom. 

4.  ut  colono  :  the  coloni,  or  free  tenant  farmers,  were  the  class 
on  which  the  great  landowners  of  the  Empire  mainly  depended 
for  working  their  estates;  see,  e.g.,  Pliny,  Epistulae  9.  37.  The 
tenant  leased  a  parcel  of  land  on  shares  (colonus  partiarius)  — 
herein  lies  the  point  of  resemblance  with  the  German  serf  —  or 
for  a  money  rental  (colonus  qui  ad  pecuniam  numeratam  conduxit). 

—  hactenus  paret :    cf.    Agricola   10.    19,  hactenus  iussum.     In 
order  to  throw  into  relief  the  harshness  of  Roman  slavery,  Taci- 
tus has  painted  the  lot  of  the  German  slave  in  too  bright  colors ; 
he  treats  the  tenant  serf  as  the  typical  slave  and  probably  under- 
states  his   disabilities.     Furthermore,    as   modern   ethnological 
parallels  show,  the  conditions  of  slavery  would  not  have  been 
the  same  throughout  all  Germany,  but  would  have  varied  greatly 
among  separate  tribes,  according  to  their  economic  position  and 
mode  of  life. 

6.  cetera  domus  officia  :  the  other  services,  those  of  the  house- 
hold. The  implication  contained  in  this  sentence,  to  the  effect 
that  the  Germans  did  not  have  household  slaves,  is  at  odds  with 
Tacitus's  own  statement  in  chap.  20.  4  and  with  linguistic 
evidence,  from  which  it  appears  that  various  German  words 
for  '  slave,'  '  servitor,'  like  Greek  olKtrtis  wait,  Latin  puer, 
denote  also  '  member  of  the  household,'  '  boy,'  '  girl,'  et  cet.  We 


NOTES  85 

may  be  sure  that  in  primitive  Germany  slaves  formed  a  part  of 
at  least  every  well-to-do  household  and  that  they  were  treated 
as  a  sort  of  inferior  member  of  the  family.  —  verberare  .  .  .  ac 
vinculis  et  opere  coercere  :  Roman  literature,  especially  comedy, 
teems  with  references  to  these,  the  regular  punishments  inflicted 
on  refractory  slaves.  Vinculis  and  opere  are  coupled  together 
because  the  slave  condemned  to  labor  in  quarry,  mill,  or  on.  the 
farm,  was  shackled  and  made  a  member  of  a  chain  gang  (com- 
pediti) ;  cf .  Cato,  De  Agri  Cultura  56 ;  Plautus,  Captivi  944  :  in 
lapicidinas  conpeditum  (eum)  condidi  ('  I  have  shackled  him  and 
consigned  him  to  the  quarry  ')  is  typical. 

7.  disciplina  et  severitate :  =  severa   disciplina.  —  impetu  et 
ira  :   a  sudden  access  of  fury. 

8.  nisi  quod  impune  est :   otherwise  the  murderer  would  have 
been  liable  for  Wergeld.     It  is  by  no  means  the  universal  rule  in 
systems  of  slavery  that  the  master  cannot  be  held  accountable 
for  killing  his  slave.     In  various  races  and  strata  of  society, 
custom  and  law  have  acted  to  protect  the  slave  from  extreme 
violence.     The  power  of    life  and  death  which  the  Teutonic 
master  possessed  was  in  ancient   times  the  prerogative  of   the 
Roman  master,  but,  before  the  time  of  Tacitus,  legislation  by 
the  emperor  Claudius  had  placed  certain  checks  on  the  master's 
power ;   see  Suetonius,  Claudius  25.     The  Roman  reader  would 
be  well  aware  of  this  fact.  —  non  multum  supra  servos :    they 
usually  remained  in  a  state  of  clientage  and  labored  under 
various  disabilities. 

9.  raro  aliquod  momentum :  this  whole  account  of  the  German 
freedmen  is  colored  by  the  resentment  with  which  Tacitus  and 
the  senatorial  class  viewed  the  dominating  position  usurped  in 
the  society  and  the  political  life  of  the  Empire  by  the  clever  and 
unscrupulous  libertini  under  such  emperors  as  Caligula,  Claudius, 
Nero,  and  Domitian ;  see  note  on  Agricola  40.  6. 

10.  gentibus   quae   regnantur :     the   monarchical   states   are 
here  distinguished  from  those  ruled  by  principes. 

11.  super    ingenues  .  .  .  ascendunt :     a    comment    penned 
with  the  conditions  holding  good  in  Rome  in  the  principate  of 
the   absolutist   Domitian   in   mind,    but   intrinsically   credible, 
nevertheless.     The   king's   freedmen    would   be   bound   to   fill 


86  NOTES 

important  positions  in  his  household  and  hence  to  wield  influ- 
ence on  policy. 

12.  impares  libertini :  the  inferior  position  of  the  class  of  freed- 
men.  Libertini  is  not  merely  a  synonym  for  liberti  but  is  used 
in  its  literal  sense  to  refer  to  the  freedmen  as  a  social  class  in 
contrast  with  ingenui  above. 

Chapter  26. 

Financial  operations ;    partition  of  land ;    agriculture. 

1.  faenus  agitare  :  faenus  here  means  '  capital  '  and  the  sense 
of    the  expression  is  to    engage  in   dealings    with    capital.  —  in 
usuras  extenders :    sc.  faenus;    to  let  it  increase  with  a  view  to 
(resultant)  interest  returns.     The  operations  of  high  finance  had 
more  than  once  created  trouble  in  the  Roman  money  market 
and  had  necessitated  legislation  restricting  the  amount  of  capital 
which  could  be  put  out  at  interest,  the  percentage  rate,  et  cet. 
Tacitus  knew  that  his  readers  would  be  cognizant  of  the  abuses 
in  question,  and  so  confines  himself  to  generalities. 

2.  servatur :    guarded  against;    the  word  is  here  equivalent 
to  cavetur;  cf.  Livy,  39.  14.  10:   triumviris  capitalibus  mandatum 
est  ut  vigilias  disponerent  per  urbem  servarentque  ne  qui  nocturni 
coetus  fierent  ('  the  board  of  three  in  charge  of  prisons  and  exe- 
cutions was  commissioned  to  dispose  watchmen  throughout  the 
city  and  to  guard  against  the  occurrence  of  nocturnal  assem- 
blages ').  —  vetitum  esset :  i.e.  by  law,  as  was  the  case  at  Rome. 
It  is  self-evident  that  "  crooked  "  financial  operations  could  not 
have  existed  among  peoples  to  whom  money  was  a  rarity  and 
barter  the  rule ;   hence  this  context  is  rather  superfluous,  a  fact 
overlooked  by  Tacitus  owing  to  his  chronic  anxiety  to  disparage 
by  contrast  the  ways  of  civilization.  —  pro  numero  cultorum : 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  homesteaders,  i.e.  the  'free  heads  of 
households.     The  center  of  the  account  of  Tacitus  is  the  rural 
village  community  which,  we  have  seen  in  chap.  16,  was  the  typi- 
cal civic  unit  among  the  Germans.     Each  village  had  as  its 
environs  an  expanse  of  territory,  comprising  woodland,  pasture, 
and  plowland,  all  of  which  was  owned  by  the  community  as 
a  corporation.     This  difficult  and  much-discussed   sentence  is 
best  explained  as  referring  to  a  system  of  rotation  under  which 


NOTES  87 

separate  tracts  of  plowland  were  put  under  cultivation.  From 
the  whole  tract  of  arable  land,  a  section  adequate  to  the  needs 
of  the  community  was  sequestrated  and  worked  for  a  certain 
period,  while  the  residuum  was  allowed  to  lie  fallow.  How 
frequently  a  shift  in  the  field  of  operations  occurred  and  a  dif- 
ferent area  was  broken,  Tacitus  does  not  say.  This  might  be 
after  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  according  to  the  fertility  of  the 
tract.  Whenever  a  change  was  made,  the  new  tract  chosen  for 
cultivation  naturally  had  to  be  commensurate  with  the  number 
of  households  in  the  community,  a  number  which,  of  course, 
would  be  subject  to  variation. 

3.  ab  universis :  by  them  collectively;  the  tenure  of  land  was 
communal  but  the  individual  held  property  rights  over  the 
homestead,  yard,  and  the  household  chattels.  In  certain 
primitive  civilizations  to-day,  notably  in  the  South  Seas,  collec- 
tive ownership  is  theoretically  absolute  and  extends  to  all 
property  and  chattels.  —  in  vices  occupantur :  are  taken  up 
successively,  literally,  with  a  view  to  changes.  As  has  been  said, 
Tacitus  says  nothing  about  any  fixed  interval  of  rotation. 
However,  it  is  evident  that  the  successive  occupations  of  tracts 
of  plowland  did  not  involve  a  change  in  the  location  of  the  vil- 
lage community.  Any  such  annual  series  of  expropriations  as 
that  described  by  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  6.  22.  2  :  magistratus 
ac  principes  in  annos  singulos  gentibus  cognationibusque  hominum 
quique  una  coierunt,  quantum  et  quo  loco  visum  est  agri  attribuunt 
atque  anno  post  olio  transire  cogunt,  an  arrangement  suitable  for 
a  predatory  race  of  nomadic  instincts  as  were  the  Suebi,  whom 
Caesar  had  mainly  in  mind,  is  out  of  keeping  with  Tacitus's 
picture  of  German  life,  a  feature  of  which  is  permanence  of 
abode,  comparatively  speaking.  Furthermore,  the  following 
context  implies  that  tenure  of  a  given  territory  was  continuous 
or  for  a  period  of  some  duration.  —  quos  mox  .  .  .  partiuntur : 
each  new  tract  selected  for  cultivation  by  the  village  corporation 
was  subdivided  into  quotas  to  be  worked  by  the  individual  house- 
holders. This  system  presupposes  for  the  time  being  a  differ- 
entiation among  the  individual  parcels  and  hence  marks  a  devel- 
opment over  the  conditions  depicted  by  Caesar,  who  says 
that,  at  least  among  the  Suebi,  there  was  a  total  absence  of 


88  NOTES 

defined  areas  and  private  holdings ;  Bellum  Gallicum  4.  1.  7 ; 
6.  22. 2. 

4.  secundum  dignationem :  on  the  basis  of  rank;  when  the 
land  was  parceled  out  among  individuals,  chieftains  and  nobles 
would  receive  greater  acreage  or  a  choicer  plot  than  those  below 
them  in  the  social  scale.  This  again  is  at  variance  with  Caesar, 
who  implies  (6.  22.  4)  that  all  shared  alike :  cum  suas  quisque 
opes  cum  potentissimis  aequari  videat. 

6.  camporum  spatia :  the  large  extent  of  territory  held  by  a 
community  assured  the  satisfaction  of  all  accredited  claimants 
of  a  share.  —  arva  per  annos  mutant :  arvum  is  land  actually 
put  under  cultivation  as  opposed  to  ager,  arable  land.  It  is 
hardly  possible  to  understand  arva  as  referring  to  the  whole 
tract  of  plowland  taken  up  by  the  community,  as  does  a  recent 
critic,  and  to  conclude  that  this  sentence  develops  the  thought 
of  the  preceding  agri  .  .  .  occupantur,  per  annos  elucidating 
in  vices.  The  idea  contained  in  per  annos  could  easily  have 
been  included  at  the  outset  and  this  would  have  been  in  the 
manner  of  Tacitus,  who  is  prone  to  avoid  wasting  words.  Fur- 
thermore, the  thought  of  the  two  clauses  directly  preceding  the 
sentence  relates  exclusively  to  the  assignments  turned  over  to 
individuals  and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  this  subject  is 
continued.  We  may  interpret  thus :  each  year  the  husband- 
man worked  a  different  piece  in  his  apportioned  plot  and  per- 
mitted the  rest  to  lie  fallow ;  this  practice  was  made  possible 
by  the  size  of  each  individual's  share  and  was  naturally  resorted 
to  because  of  ignorance  of  what  manure,  abundant  enough  among 
them  (see  c.  5.  4 ;  16.  12),  could  have  accomplished  for  the  enrich- 
ment of  the  soil. 

6.  nee  enim  .  .  .  labore  contendunt :  introducing  a  contrast  be- 
tween the  simple  and  wasteful  methods  of  German  husbandry  and 
the  intensive  and  diversified  operations  of  Italian  agriculture  and 
horticulture.  Translate :  for  they  do  not  by  work  compete,  i.e.  their 
methods  do  not  measure  up  to  their  opportunities.  The  German 
words  for  fruits  and  vegetables  are  mostly  of  foreign  origin,  a 
fact  which  goes  to  show  that  these  articles  were  not  indigenous. 

8.  seges :  grain.  —  imperatur : .  the  crop  is,  as  it  were,  a  trib- 
ute requisitioned  by  the  farmer  from  his  subject,  the  soil. 


NOTES  89 

The  figure  is  a  favorite  one ;  cf.  Cicero,  De  Senectute  51 :  habent 
enim  (agricolae)  rationem  cum  terra  quae  numquam  recusat 
imperium  ('  for  they  (i.e.  the  farmers)  have  dealings  with  the 
land,  which  never  refuses  their  sway  ') ;  also  the  lines  prefixed  to 
the  Aeneid:  egressus  silvis  vidna  coegi  \  ut  quamvis  avido  parerent 
arva  colono  ('  departing  from  the  woodland  (i.e.  sylvan  themes), 
I  compelled  the  neighboring  plowlands  to  submit  to  the  husband- 
man, however  grasping  '). 

9.  totidem  :   as  do  the  Romans. 

10.  species  :   categories.  —  hiems  et  ver  et  aestas  :    the  same 
three  seasons  are  recognized  in  the  Homeric  poems  as  x"/*^, 
&xp,  and  Otpos  respectively.      The  primitive  division  of  the  year, 
common  to  all  Indo-European  peoples,  differentiated  winter  and 
summer  only. 

11.  autumni  .  .  .  nomen :     Herbst,  '  autumn,'  is  an  original 
word   common   to   the   Germanic   stocks.     However,   it  means 
literally  '  harvest-time,'  which  to  a  Roman  would  coincide  with 
summer. 

Chapter  27. 
Funeral  customs. 

1.  ambitio :     ostentation.     On   the   other   hand,   great   pomp 
always  marked  the  funeral  ceremony  of  a  Roman  of  any  stand- 
ing.    So  early  as  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  incorporated  regulations  intended  to  curb  extravagance 
and  display  in  funeral  rites.     Further  sumptuary  legislation  of 
this  character  was  enacted  by  Sulla,  who  then  led  the  way  in 
disregarding  it  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  his  wife  Metella ; 
cf.  Plutarch,  Sulla  35,  and  on  the  topic  as  a  whole,  Friedlander, 
Roman  Life  and  Manners,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  2,  p.  210. 

The  simplicity  of  German  funerals  was  in  direct  contrast  to 
the  customs  of  the  Gauls  in  this  regard ;  cf .  Caesar,  Bellum 
Gallicum  6.  19.  4 :  funera  sunt  pro  cultu  .  .  .  magnifica  et  sump- 
tuosa. 

2.  certis :     especial.      In    the   deposits   of    incinerated  wood 
marking  the  sites  of  funeral  pyres  in  the  cemeteries  of  ancient 
Germany,  ashes  from  the  oak,  beech,  fir,  and  juniper  have  been 
discovered.     It  has  been  observed  that  oak  was  the  wood  com- 


90  NOTES 

monly  used  in  Northwest  Germany,  fir  in  the  East.  —  crementur : 
in  the  earliest  prehistoric  period,  interment  was  the  sole  method 
of  disposing  of  the  dead.  The  practice  of  cremation  of  the  corpse 
and  subsequent  burial  of  the  ashes,  occurring  sporadically  in 
the  later  Stone  Age  and  thereafter  increasing  in  frequency,  in 
the  later  Bronze  Age  had  developed  into  a  universal  folk  custom, 
which,  once  established,  was  maintained  tenaciously  by  the 
Germans  through  centuries.  Tacitus  recognizes  it  as  the  exclu- 
sive method  in  his  time ;  this,  however,  was  not  strictly  true 
for  all  German  lands.  Both  methods  were  utilized,  sometimes 
existing  side  by  side  in  the  same  region.  Nevertheless  cremation 
was  the  dominant  practice  in  the  Roman  period ;  exceptions 
reflect  local  usage  or  family  preference. 

3.  nee  vestibus  nee  odoribus  :  the  opposing  Roman  custom  is 
often  attested  ;  cf.  Vergil's  description  of  the  funeral  of  Misenus, 
which  corresponds  closely  to  the  ceremonial  of  his  own  day, 
Aeneid  6.  221  f . :  purpureasque  super  vestes,  velamina  nota  coniciunt 
.  .  .  congesta  cremantur  turea  dona,  dapes,  fuso  crateres  olivo. 
At  the  funeral  of  Caesar  the  populace  threw  robes  and  ornaments 
on  the  pyre,  Suetonius,  Caesar  84.  The  poet  Propertius,  stipu- 
lating for  a  simple  burial,  writes,  2.  13.  23,  desit  odoriferis  ordo 
mihi  lancibus  ('  let  me  lack  the  line  of  dishes  incense-laden  ').  — 
sua  cuique  arma  :  to  bury  or  burn  with  the  corpse  typical  articles 
of  use  or  adornment  is  a  folk  custom  which  has  prevailed  among 
races  so  far  removed  from  each  other  as  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
the  North  American  Indians,  and  was  indigenous  with  the  pre- 
historic Germans.  In  the  graves  of  the  Stone  Age  the  presence 
of  an  ax-  or  spear-head  attests  the  antiquity  of  the  practice  of 
consigning  the  weapons  of  the  dead  to  the  last  resting  place. 
Relics  of  this  character  are  found  more  abundantly  in  the  graves 
of  later  epochs.  In  the  Bronze  Age,  after  the  introduction  of 
cremation,  the  arms  of  the  dead  man  were  not  burned  with  the 
corpse  but  laid  beside  the  urn ;  often  miniature  models  took  the 
place  of  the  actual  weapons.  At  a  relatively  late  period,  reck- 
oned as  about  400  B.C.,  it  became  customary  to  place  the  arms 
on  the  pyre,  a  practice  perhaps  borrowed  from  the  Celts.  The 
damaged  remains  were  buried  together  with  the  ashes  of  the 
dead;  precautions  were  taken  to  bend  or  otherwise  to  render 


NOTES  91 

useless  such  parts  of  the  weapons  as  were  not  subject  to  injury 
by  the  flames. 

4.  quorundam :    naturally  the  chieftains  and  the  well-to-do. 
Archaeological  research  has  fully  confirmed  the  statement  of 
Tacitus  and  even  supplemented  it ;   the  remains  prove  that  not 
only  the  horse  but  other  domestic  animals  also  accompanied  the 
master  to  the  pyre.     The  presence,  in  graves  of  the  Roman 
period,  of  the  bones  of  swine,  sheep,  and  goats  probably  indicates 
that   popular   belief   dictated   the   propriety   of   supplying   the 
departed  with  means  of  subsistence  in  the  other  world. 

In  Rome  the  immolation  of  animals  at  the  pyre  was  not  un- 
known ;  in  the  time  of  Tacitus  and  Pliny,  the  notorious  juris- 
consult, Regulus,  in  the  extravagance  of  his  grief  at  the  death  of 
his  son,  killed  at  the  pyre  the  boy's  ponies,  dogs,  and  pet  birds ;  see 
Pliny,  Epistulae  4.  2.  3.  The  tone  of  the  letter  sufficiently  shows 
the  abnormal  character  of  the  procedure  of  Regulus  as  judged  by 
the  ordinary  standards  of  the  day.  —  sepulcrum  caespes  erigit : 
a  bold,  rhetorical  locution,  justified  if  not  inspired  by  Seneca, 
Epistulae  Morales  1.  8.  4:  hanc  utrum  (domum)  caespes  erexerit 
an  varius  lapis  .  .  .  nihil  interest  ('  it  matters  not  whether  this 
abpde  is  reared  in  air  a  mound  of  sod  or  a  structure  of  variegated 
marble  ').  Such  mounds,  heaped  over  the  ashes  of  the  dead, 
were  technically  called  busta  and  were  common  enough  in  Italy. 
The  hillock  grave,  which  was  typical  in  earlier  periods  of  civiliza- 
tion, especially  the  Bronze  Age,  was  by  no  means  the  mode  in 
the  Germany  of  Tacitus  but  was  utilized  at  the  most  only  in  iso- 
lated instances.  As  a  rule,  the  urn  was  buried  in  a  shallow 
cavity  and  the  ground  over  it  was  raised  only  to  a  slight  elevation 
above  the  surrounding  level.  The  bustum  of  sod,  familiar  to 
Tacitus,  presented  the  natural  foil  to  the  pyramidal  and  cylindri- 
cal stone  sepulchers  to  be  seen  in  and  about  Rome,  hence  is 
cited  as  the  tomb  par  excellence  of  an  unpretentious  civilization, 
by  an  author  who  was  intent  on  making  a  contrast,  and  not  on 
presenting  details  with  modern  archaeological  precision. 

5.  monumentorum  .  .  .  honorem :     such  as  the  Pyramid  of 
Cestius,   the  Tomb   of  Caecilia  Metella,   and  other  elaborate 
mausoleums  still  to  be  seen  at  Rome,  especially  along  the  Appian 
Way.  —  ut  gravem  def unctis  :  Tacitus  ascribes  to  the  Germans  a 


92  NOTES 

Roman  sentiment  expressed  in  the  formula  sit  tibi  terra  levis,  a 
commonplace  in  epitaphs,  and  often  rendered  in  paraphrase  by 
the  poets,  e.g.  by  Propertius,  1.  17.  23-24 : 

ilia  meum  extremo  clamasset  pulvere  nomen 

ut  mihi  non  ullo  pondere  terra  foret 

('  she  would  have  called  aloud  my  name  over  my  final  dust, 
(praying)  that  the  earth  might  rest  upon  me  without  weight '). 

6.  lamenta  ac  lacrimas  cito :    it  is  Tacitus's  own  ideal  as  to 
the  conduct  befitting  mourners  with  which  the  Germans  are 
here  endowed ;    cf .    Agricola  46.  3   f . :   nosque  domum  tuam  ab 
infirmo   desiderio    et   muliebribus   lamentis  .  .  .  voces;     see    also 
Agricola  29.  2-4. 

7.  ponunt :  =  deponunt.  —  f eminis     lugere  .  .  .  viris     memi- 
nisse  :   so,  with  a  slight  difference,  Charles  Kingsley's  antithesis : 
"  Men  must  work  and  women  must  weep  "  (The  Three  Fishers). 

9.  in  commune  :  in  general.     This  context  forms  the  dividing 
line  between  the  general  and  the  particular  in  the  treatise. 

10.  accepimus :   indicating  that  his  information  is  gained  at 
second-hand,  whether  from  literary  sources  or  oral  tradition ;  cf. 
Agricola  11.  17.  —  instituta  ritusque :    the  former  refers  to  civic 
and  social  usages,  the  latter  primarily  to  religious  ceremonies. 

11.  quatenus    differant :      in    so    far    as    individual    nations 
depart  from  the  traits  and  customs  usual   to  the  race.  —  quae 
nationes  .  .  .  commigraverint :    this  sentence  is  introductory  to 
chap.  28,  the  nexus  being  as  follows :   Correlative  with  the  topic 
of  German  migration  into  Gaul,  the  direction  of  race  movement 
naturally  to  be  predicated  because  of  the  superior  strength  of  the 
Germans  at  the  time  at  which  Tacitus  was  writing,  is,  nevertheless, 
the  question  as  to  the  opposite  possibility,  Celtic  migration  into 
Germany.     To  this  latter  theme  Tacitus  turns  first,  as  a  logical 
preliminary  to  the  former. 

Chapter  28. 

Foreign  tribes  that  have  entered  Germany;  German  tribes 
settled  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

1.  validiores :  i.e.  quam  Germanorum.  —  summus :  most 
reliable,  because  of  his  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  subject. 
Caesar's  testimony  is  found  in  Bellum  Gallicum  6.  24.  1  :  ac  fuit 


NOTES  93 

antea  tempus  cum  Germanos  Galli  virtute  superarent,  .  .  .  propter 
hominum  multitudinem  agrique  inopiam  trans  Rhenum  colonias 
mitterent;  this  passage  is  also  referred  to  in  Agricola  11.  14. 

2.  etiam :  said  with  reference  to  the  countermigration  ex- 
pressed in  quae  .  .  .  commigraverint  above.  As  a  matter  of 
ethnological  fact,  the  so-called  Gauls  resident  in  Germany  had 
not  migrated  thither  from  Gaul,  but  were  remnants  of  Celtic 
peoples  who  had  formerly  occupied  the  territory  east  of  the 
Rhine  and  had  dominated  Central  Europe  until  the  pressure  of 
German  tribes  had  largely  forced  them  across  the  river.  —  in 
Germaniam  transgresses:  recall  that,  in  chap.  2,  Tacitus  has 
denied  the  likelihood  of  migrating  tribes  being  attracted  to  Ger- 
many. He  is,  however,  speaking  primarily  of  migrations  by 
sea  in  earlier  times. 

6.    promiscuas :   common  property. 

6.  Hercyniam  silvam :     in    Caesar,  Bellum   Gallicum   6.    25, 
the  vast  expanse  of  wooded  mountain  ranges  extending  from  the 
Rhine  along  the  Danube  and  northeast  to  the  Vistula.     Here 
the  mountains  separating  the  German  Empire  and  Bohemia, 
i.e.  the  Erzgebirge,  the  Bohmerwald,  and  the  Sudetic  Mts.,  are 
referred   to.  —  Rhenumque   et   Moenum :    together  forming  a 
pair  and  connected  with   Hercyniam  silvam  by  que.     Moenus  is 
the  modern  Main. 

7.  Helvetii:    in  Caesar's  time  dwelling  in   the  western  part 
of   Switzerland.     Formerly   they  had  held   Southwestern   Ger- 
many, including  Western  and  Northern  Bavaria,  and  parts  of 
Franconia,  Wurtemberg,  Baden,  and  Hesse.     Their  migrations, 
which  carried  them  not  only  to  Switzerland  but  also  into  Gaul, 
began  in  the  second  century  B.C.  —  ulteriora:   east  of  the  Boh- 
merwald. 

8.  Boihaemi:    lit.   'home  of  the  Boii,'  whence  the  modern 
name  of  the  territory,  Bohemia. 

9.  mutatis  cultoribus :   the  Boii  had  long  since  been  expelled, 
and  the  land  which  bore  their  name  was,  in  the  time  of  Tacitus, 
held  by  the  Marcomanni ;   cf .  chap.  42. 

10.  Aravisci :    they  lived  west  of  the  modern  Budapest,  in 
the  territory  within  the  great  bend  of  the  Danube.  —  ab  Osis : 
in  Northwestern  Hungary,  north  of  the  bend  of  the  Danube. 


94  NOTES 

11.  Germanorum  natione :  not  said  with  reference  to  ethnic 
origin  —  we  learn  in  chap.  43  that  the  Osi  were  Pannonians  — 
but  with  reference  to  geographical  situation,  the  lands  north 
of  the  Danube  being  included  by  Tacitus  in  Germania;  see 
chap.  1. 

13.  incertum  est :    since  the  seat  of  the  Pannonian  races,  of 
which    the  Aravisci  and    the  Osi  were  branches,  was  south  of 
the  Danube,  it  is  more  likely  that  the  Osi  were  the  emigrants. 
In  any  case  the  assumption  must  be  based  on  inference  rather 
than  on  ethnological  data. 

14.  eadem  .  .  .  bona   malaque   erant :    recall   the   principle 
correctly  assumed  in  chap.  2,  that  trend  of  migration  is  affected 
by  the  natural  advantages  possessed  by  one  country  over  another. 
Here  political  conditions  are  likewise  predicated  as  exerting  an 
influence. 

15.  TrevSri:    here  begins  the  treatment  of  the  topic  proper, 
German  migration  into  Gaul.     Note  that  Tacitus  here  merely 
quotes  the  claim  of  the  Treveri  and  the  Nervii  to  Germanic 
origin  and  makes  no  attempt  to  support  it.     In  Historiae  4.  73 
the  Treveri  are  definitely  included  with  the  Gauls.     As  a  matter 
of  fact,  both  peoples  were  true  Celtic  nationalities,  although  they 
had  received  accessions  of  Germanic  blood  from  the  assimilation 
of  Teutonic  invaders.     The  Treveri,  the  most  prosperous  and 
flourishing  people  of  the  Belgae,  lived  in  the  valley  of  the  Moselle. 
The  name  of  their  capital,  Augusta  Treverorum,  survives  in  the 
modern  Treves  or  Trier,  situated  in  Rhenish  Prussia  not  far  from 
the  border  of  Luxemburg.  —  Nervii :  Caesar's  famous  foes  ;  they 
dwelt  west  of  the  Sambre  and  were  backward  in  culture  as  com- 
pared with  the  Treveri.  —  circa :   in  regard  to,  a  meaning  of  this 
preposition  frequently  found  in  the  writers  of  the  Empire. 

16.  ultro  ambitiosi :    pretentious  to  a  degree. 

18.  baud  dubie  :  joined  to  Germanorum  attributively. 

19.  Vangidnes,  TribSci,  Nemetes  :   these  three  tribes  occupied 
the  territory  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Rhine  but  not  in  the  order 
named.     The  Vangiones  were  in  the  vicinity  of  Worms,   the 
Triboci  near  Strassburg  and  the  Vosges,  while  between  them, 
near  Speyer,  were  the  Nemetes.     All  three  fought  on  the  side 
of  Ariovistus  against  Caesar :    cf.  Bellum  Gallicum  1.  51.  2.  — 


NOTES  95 

Ubii :  a  powerful  tribe,  dwelling  in  Caesar's  time  in  Hesse- 
Xassau,  opposite  Coblentz.  Having  been  harried  constantly  by 
the  Suebi,  they  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  Caesar, 
and  it  was  partly  in  response  to  their  solicitations  that  he  crossed 
the  Rhine  in  55  B.C.  Some  years  later,  probably  in  38  B.C., 
although  there  is  some  evidence  pointing  to  19  B.C.  as  the  date 
of  the  event,  they  were  transported  across  the  Rhine  under  the 
patronage  of  Agrippa  and  established  in  the  vicinity  of  Cologne 
(colonia). 

20.  Romana  colonia :  in  50  A.D.  the  capital  of  the  expatriated 
Ubii,  Oppidum  or  Ara    Ubiorum,  was  organized  as  a  Roman 
colony  at   the  instigation  of  Nero's  mother,  Agrippina,  whose 
birthplace    it    was.  —  meruerint :     earned     the    right.  —  Agrip- 
pinenses :    the  colony  was  variously  designated  Colonia  Agrip- 
pinensis  or  -ium,  also,  with  official  formality,  Colonia  Claudia 
Augusta  Agrippinensium  and  Colonia  Claudia  Ara  Agrippinensis. 

21.  conditoris  :  the  word  is  used  in  a  broad,  not  in  a  technical, 
sense  and  refers  to  Agrippina,  under  whose  patronage  the  colony 
was  organized.     According  to  Annales  12.  27,  the  epithet  had  a 
subsidiary  significance  in  perpetuating  the  memory  of  Agrippa's 
relation  to  the  Ubii. 

Conditrix  is  used  only  in  late  Latin ;  even  if  there  had  been 
precedent  for  the  word,  Tacitus  might  well  have  chosen  the 
form  in  -tor  here,  as  he  does  in  the  case  of  laudator  in  7.  13-4, 
hi  (i.e.  feminae)  .  .  .  sanctissimi  testes,  hi  maximi  laudatores. 

22.  experimento  fidei :   as  a  result  of  their  proved  loyalty. 

Chapter  29. 

Romanized  tribes  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine;  the  Agri 
Decumates. 

1.  virtute  praecipui :  cohorts  of  the  Batavi  had  rendered 
yeoman  service  to  Rome  in  the  German  wars  waged  by  Drusus, 
Tiberius,  and  Germanicus ;  they  had  also  served  with  great 
distinction  in  Britain ;  cf.  Historiae  4.  12  and  note  on  Agricola 
36.  5.  In  the  great  revolt  under  Civilis,  69-70  A.D.,  they  offered 
stubborn  resistance,  and,  peace  having  been  made  on  terms 
favorable  to  them,  they  retained  immunity  from  taxation  and  a 
privileged  position  as  regards  military  service. 


96  NOTES 

2.  insulam  Rheni :  before  the  time  of  Caesar,  the  Batavi  had 
established  themselves  on  the  island  formed  by  the  Old  Rhine, 
the  Waal,  and  the  Maas.  —  Chattorum  quondam  populus :  the 
origin  of  the  Batavi  and  their  expulsion  from  their  native  haunts 
are  referred  to  in  similar  terms  in  Historiae  4. 12.  On  the  Chatti 
see  Germania  30.  1. 

6.    insigne :   token. 

6.  tributis  contemnuntur  :   they  do  not  suffer  the  slight  of  taxa- 
tion. 

7.  conlationibus :    theoretically,   voluntary  contributions,  but 
sometimes  extorted  under  duress,  as,  e.g.,  by  Nero  after  the  Fire  ; 
conlationib usque  non  receptis  modo  verum  efflagitatis   provincias 
privatorumque  census  prope  exhausit  ('  as  a  result  of  the  contri- 
butions which  he  not  only  received    but  even  demanded,  he 
nearly  ruined  the  provinces  and  drained  the  fortunes  of  indi- 
viduals ')  Suetonius,   Nero  38.  —  in  usum  proeliorum   sepositi : 
for  a  similar  use  of   seponere  as  applied  to  choice  troops,  cf. 
Agricola  31.  23 :  ostendamus  quos  sibi  Caledonia  viros  seposuerit. 
The  Batavi  were  expert  cavalrymen  and  swimmers,  and  were  in 
demand  as  members  of  the  imperial  body-guard. 

9.  Mattiacorum   gens:     they   lived    across   the   Rhine   from 
Mainz,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  modern  Wiesbaden.     Their  name 
perhaps    survives    in    Metze,    southwest    of    Kassel.  —  protulit 
enim  magnitude  populi  Roman! :  most  critics  see  in  this  sentence 
an  allusion  to  the  extension  and  the  fortification  of  the  Roman 
frontier  in  Germany  carried  out  by  Domitian  (see  note  on  limite 
acto  below),  whose  name  Tacitus,  true  to  his  detestation  of  that 
emperor,  has  suppressed. 

However,  the  locution  is  quite  in  the  usual  manner  of  Tacitus  ; 
cf.  Agricola  23.  2  :  si  .  .  .  Romani  nominis  gloria  paterelur,  inven- 
tus  in  ipsa  Britannia  terminus.  Secondly,  the  country  of  the 
Mattiaci,  famed  for  its  silver  deposits  and  its  medicinal  springs, 
had  been  brought  into  the  sphere  of  Roman  domination  by  Drusus 
and  Germanicus  and  had  remained  under  the  control  of  the  Em- 
pire except  during  the  revolt  of  Civilis.  It  may  well  be  that 
it  is  to  the  original  occupation  of  the  country  of  the  Mattiaci 
in  the  Early  Empire  that  Tacitus  here  refers. 

10,  veteres  terminos:   the  Rhine, 


NOTES  97 

12.  agunt:    the  verb  has  a  different  shade  of  meaning  with 
each  ablative  pair ;    they  live  on  the  German  side  of  the  Rhine 
but  they  side  with  us. 

13.  adhuc :   still,  to  this  day.     The  Batavi  had  been  expelled 
from  their  original  abode  ;   the  Mattiaci  still  occupy  their  native 
land  and  have  preserved  their  national  consciousness.     Hence 
they  are  endowed  with  a  more  ardent  spirit. 

16.  decumates  agros :  tithe  lands,  i.e.  land  leased  by  the 
emperor  to  settlers  in  consideration  of  the  payment  of  a  tenth  of 
the  annual  produce.  Decumates,  which  occurs  only  here,  is  a 
by-form  of  the  normal  term  decumanus.  Its  presence,  perhaps, 
is  due  simply  to  our  author's  preference  for  unusual  technical 
expressions ;  or  it  may  be  that  decumates,  '  tenners,'  was  the 
term  applied  to  the  inhabitants,  the  form  sanctioned  in  the  local 
Gallic  Latin  usage,  and  then  accepted  as  the  official  designation 
of  the  territory.  Decumas,  like  Arpinas  and  similar  formations, 
would  be  usable  either  as  noun  or  adjective. 

The  territory  lay  between  the  Rhine,  the  Main,  and  the  Upper 
Danube,  thus  comprising  Western  Wurtemberg  and  most  of 
Baden.  Formerly  it  had  been  held  by  the  Helvetians. 

18.  dubiae   possessionis :     tenure   was  insecure  because,   so 
long  as  the  frontier  was  unfortified,  the  settlers  were  exposed  to 
the  forays  of  their  German  neighbors. 

19.  limite  acto :  to  Tacitus  and  his  readers  limes  in  this  pas- 
sage meant  the  fortified  boundary  line  separating  Roman  from 
German  territory.    Vespasian  (69-79)  took  steps  to  secure  Roman 
possession  of  the  Agri  Decumates  by  extending  a  military  road 
east  from  Strassburg  and  planting  castella  in  the  valley  of  the 
Neckar.     The  real  credit  for  achieving  permanent  extension  of 
the  Roman  frontier  north  and  east  of  the  Middle  Rhine  belongs 
to  Domitian.     As  a  result  of  his  campaign  against  the  Chatti, 
83  A.D.,  this  emperor  began  a  great  system  of  fortifications, 
which,  strengthened  and  extended  by  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  An- 
toninus Pius,  ultimately  stretched  from  Honningen,  situated  on 
the  Rhine  not  far  above  Bonn,  to  Hienheim  on  the  Danube,  near 
Regensburg.     The  original  line,  after  diverging  from  the  Rhine, 
follows  the  course  of  this  river  and  that  of  the  Main  to  a  point 
north  of  Frankfort,  whence  it  juts  out  in  a  salient  converging 


98  NOTES 

toward  Giessen.  Thence  it  returns  in  a  southerly  direction  to 
the  Main  and  is  carried  south  from  Worth  on  the  Main,  along 
the  Neckar  to  Rottweil,  southwest  of  Stuttgart.  In  the  prin- 
cipate  of  Hadrian  the  limes  was  advanced  about  13  miles  east  of 
the  former  line  and  extended  from  the  Main  to  Lorch,  east  of 
Stuttgart,  thence  it  was  continued  by  the  Raetian  limes  to  the 
Danube. 

Excavations  carried  out  in  Germany  and  Austria  in  the  last 
twenty-five  years  have  revealed  extensive  remains,  represent- 
ing the  several  periods  of  fortification.  As  begun  by  Domitian, 
the  limes  consisted  of  a  series  of  wooden  blockhouses  and  earthen 
redoubts,  in  some  regions  connected  by  a  wattled  fence,  which 
must  have  been  designed  to  serve  as  an  entanglement  rather  than 
as  a  permanently  effective  barrier.  Within  the  outer  line  were 
located  at  intervals  other  castella  as  secondary  defenses.  Ha- 
drian strengthened  the  works  of  his  predecessors  by  erecting  a 
strong  palisade  and  by  replacing  the  earlier  wood  and  earth 
strongholds  by  forts  and  watch-tqwers  of  stone.  The  completed 
line  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Danube  was  550  kilometers  and  more 
(340+  ms.)  in  length.  —  sinus  imperil :  corner.  As  in  chap.  1 
a  projection  of  land  into  the  water  is  called  sinus,  so  here  the 
term  is  applied  to  the  angle  of  Roman  territory  jutting  into  the 
German. 

20.  provinciae :  Germania  Superior;  the  formal  organization 
of  the  lands  held  by  Rome  along  the  Rhine  into  the  separate 
provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Germany  was  seemingly  the  work 
of  Domitian. 

Chapter  30. 

The  Chatti.  With  this  people  begins  the  account  of  the 
tribes  of  Germany  proper. 

1.  ultra  hos :  the  Mattiaci  as  well  as  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Agri  Decumates.  —  Chatti :  at  this  time  they  occupied  the  land 
beyond  the  limes  between  the  Lahn  and  the  Werra.  Their  name 
survives  in  modern  Hesse.  It  is  evident  from  the  tone  of  the 
chapter  that  Tacitus  entertained  an  admiration  for  the  prowess 
of  the  race,  which,  from  the  time  of  Drusus,  had  come  into  colli- 
sion with  Roman  arms  on  various  occasions.  Domitian's  cam- 


NOTES  99 

paigns  against  them  were  still  recent  history  and  the  praise 
bestowed  on  them  by  Tacitus  is  of  a  piece  with  his  disparagement 
of  Domitian's  achievements  against  them ;  cf.  note  on  Agricola 
39.  4.  —  Hercynio  saltu :  applied,  as  is  the  case  with  Hercyniam 
silvam  in  chap.  28,  to  a  part  of  the  whole  tract.  The  wooded 
ranges  are  a  feature  of  the  topography  of  Hesse. 

2.  effusis  .  .  .  locis :     wide   reaches.     The    ablative   is    best 
explained  as  local,  joined  with  the  idea  of  situation  expressed 
in  the  preceding  sentence. 

3.  durant  siquidem :    giving  the  reason  of  the  mountainous 
character   of   the  whole   country ;    inasmuch   as   the   highlands 
continue. 

4.  rarescunt :  diminish.  —  suos :   the  Chatti  are,  as  it  were, 
the  children  or  proteges  of  the  forest.     The  overstrained  rhetoric 
of  the  passage  is  perilously  near  "  fine  writing,"  as  measured  by 
modern  standards. 

6.  deponit :  sets  (them)  down;  where  the  hills  sink  to  the  plain, 
the  country  of  the  Chatti  ends. 

6.  stricti :  thick-set;  in  contrast  with  the  huge  frames  typical 
of  the  Germans  as  a  whole. 

8.  nosse  ordines :    they  observe  rank  and  formation;   they  do 
not  trust  to  individual  prowess  but,  as  we  might  say,  to  "  team- 
work." 

9.  differre  impetus:    unlike    the   proverbial    impetuosity  of 
savage  peoples,  who,  as  the  Roman  tactician  had  learned  to  his 
advantage,  could  generally  be  tempted  to  attack  irrespective  of 
inferiority  of  position  or  difficulty  of  retreat.  —  disponere  diem : 
they  regulated  performance  of  military  duties  and  details  by  a 
fixed  order  for  the  day.  —  vallare  noctem :    they  make  the  night 
secure  by  intrenching  themselves;  experience  may  have  taught  the 
Chatti  to  take  this  leaf  from  the  Romans'  book.     It  was  thus 
that  the  Nervii  learned  to  follow  Roman  methods  of  fortifica- 
tion ;  cf .  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  5.  42.  2. 

11.  ratione  .  .  .  concessum:      vouchsafed    under    a    studied 
plan   of  discipline. 

12.  robur  in  pedite  :  cf.  Agricola  12.  1 :  in  pedite  robur. 

13.  ferramentis  :  intrenching  tools.    The  arrangement  here  de- 
scribed was  modeled  on  the  Roman  system  under  which  the 


100  NOTES 

heavy  sarcina  of  the  legionary  comprised  rations,  valli,  and  other 
appurtenances  of  intrenchment. 

16.  f  ortuita :  haphazard  —  in  contrast  with  intellegere  occasiones 
above. 

16.  parare  :   to  gain,  to  obtain;  cf.  Cicero,  De  Amicitia  15.    55: 
quid    autem    stultius  .  .  .  quam    cetera    parare    quae    parantur 
pecunia,  equos,  famulos,  vestem  egregiam,  vasa  pretiosa :    amicos 
non  parare,  et  cet.  ('  moreover,  what  is  denser  than  to  get  those 
other  things,  such  as  are  purchasable,  viz.  horses,  servants,  fine 
clothing,  costly  dishes  —  and  not  to  get  friends  '). 

17.  iuxta  :  like  our  metaphorical  "  next  door  to."  —  cunctatio  : 
in  the  good  sense  resident  in  the  epithet  Cunctator  applied  to 
Fabius. 

Chapter  31. 
A  folk  usage  of  the  Chatti. 

1.  et :      etiam.       The    thought    is :     usurpatum    etiam     aliis 
Germ,  populis  sed  raro.  —  usurpatum :   a  practice  resorted  to;   the 
participle  is  in  apposition  with  the  following  infinitive  clause.    For 
a  similar  usage  see  Agricola  1.1:  facta  moresque  posteris  trader e, 
antiquitus  usitatum.  —  privata  cuiusque  audentia :    as  a  matter 
of  individual  daring. 

2.  in  consensum  vertit :    has  developed  into  a  general  usage.  — • 
ut  primum  adoleverint :    contrast  the  practice  of  the  Athenian 
youths,  who  wore  their  hair  unshorn  until  they  reached  the  age 
of  ephebla,  when  their  locks  were  cut  for  the  first  time  and  dedi- 
cated to  a  divinity. 

4.  nisi  hoste  caeso  :  instances  in  which  a  vow  is  made  not  to 
cut  hah*  or  beard  until  a  certain  purpose  is  brought  to  pass,  are 
frequent  in  history  and  legend.  Thus,  Civilis  vowed  not  to  cut 
hair  or  beard  until  he  had  won  a  success  against  the  Romans ; 
cf.  Historiae  4.  61.  The  act  of  Caesar  in  letting  his  hair  and 
beard  grow  until  he  had  taken  vengeance  on  Ambiorix  for  the 
destruction  of  Titurius  and  his  cohorts  (Suetonius,  Caesar  67),  is 
also  regularly  quoted  as  another  illustration.  However,  in 
Caesar's  case  his  unshorn  locks  may  easily  be  regarded  as  marking 
his  mourning  in  the  conventional  Roman  fashion.  Suetonius 
says  nothing  about  a  formal  vow  in  this  connection,  and,  if  we 


NOTES  101 

may  judge  from  Tacitus's  characterization  of  the  act  of  Civilis 
as  barbarum  votum,  such  a  pledge  on  the  part  of  Caesar  would 
have  been  un-Roman. 

6.  super    sanguinem    et    spolia :     the    vivid     description    is 
heightened  by  the  alliteration.     For  a  similar  combination  of 
the  words  in  a  rhetorical   passage  see    the  speech  of   Civilis 
Historiae  4.  14 :  quos  ubi  spoliis  et  sanguine  expleverint. 

7.  ignavis  et  imbellibus :   combined  also  in  chap.  12.  3-4  and 
in  Agricola  15.  11. 

8.  squalor :   this  word  and  its  cognates,  squalidus,  squaleo,  are 
frequently   used   of   the  unkempt,   matted   condition  resulting 
from  neglect  of  the  hair  or  beard. 

There  is  no  real  inconsistency  involved  between  this  sentence 
and  the  account  following,  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
bravest  warriors  left  their  hair  and  beard  uncut.  Tacitus  does 
not  say  that  only  the  ignavi  et  imbelles  remained  unshorn.  The 
members  of  the  warrior  brotherhood,  whose  flowing  locks  were 
a  token  of  valor,  would  be  easily  distinguishable  as  a  class 
apart.  —  ferreum  .  .  .  anulum :  under  other  circumstances, 
symbolical  of  servitude  or  personal  liability,  hence  a  badge  of  in- 
famy ;  in  this  case  the  ring  is  plausibly  to  be  regarded  as  betoken- 
ing a  self-imposed  bondage  to  the  war  god,  Wodan. 

10.  plurimis :  a  goodly  number.  —  hie  .  .  .  habitus :  the  flow- 
ing hair  and  beard,  also  the  ring. 

11.  iam  .  .  .  canent  insignes :    they  become  already  gray  with 
age  while  bearing  these  distinctions. 

13.  nova :  uncanny.  —  nam :  explanatory  not  only  of  nova 
but  also  of  prima  .  .  .  acies.  Then*  forbidding  exterior,  unaltered 
even  in  times  of  peace,  is  an  effective  means  of  striking  terror  to 
the  hearts  of  the  foe  at  the  first  outbreak  of  hostilities.  Hence 
they  are  utilized  in  the  front  rank.  The  hideous  masks  once 
worn  by  the  Japanese  Samurai  and  the  war  paint  of  the  Indian 
may  be  cited  as  analogous  devices. 

Chapter  32. 

The  Uslpi  and  the  TenctSri. 

1.  certum  iam  alveo :  for  the  moment  Tacitus,  reversing 
natural  order,  is  proceeding  in  thought  from  the  mouth  of  the 


102  NOTES 

Rhine  upstream,  and  has  in  mind  the  single  channel  of  the 
Middle  Rhine  as  contrasted  with  the  branches  into  which  the 
river  divides  in  its  lower  reaches  about  the  Insula  Batavorum. 
Most  critics  understand  the  contrast  to  refer  to  the  shifting 
course  of  the  Upper  Rhine  after  it  issues  from  Lake  Constance. 

2.  Usipi  ac  Tencteri :   these  peoples,  two  branches  of  the  same 
stock,  are  associated  in  history  from  the  time  of  Caesar,  who  in 
55   B.  c.   defeated   their  attempt  to  settle  west  of  the  Rhine ; 
Bellum  Gallicum  4.  1-15.     After  various  wanderings  they  were 
allowed  to  establish  themselves  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
in  the  territory  opposite  Cologne  and  extending  south  from  the 
Lippe.     See  also  note  on  Agricola  28.  1. 

Tacitus  refers  through  the  rest  of  the  chapter  to  the  TenctSri 
only,  but  merely  for  brevity.  What  is  said  of  them  applies 
equally  to  their  kindred,  the  Uslpi, 

3.  super  solitum  .  .  .  decus :    they  surpass  the  measure  of 
prowess,   common   to   all   the   Germans,  in   the   one   detail.  — 
equestris  disciplinae  arte :    in  this  differing  from   the   Chatti, 
then*    neighbors.     Eight    hundred    horsemen    of    the    TenctSri 
routed  five  thousand  of  Caesar's  cavalry.     Their  tactics  con- 
sisted in  dismounting  and  stabbing  the  horses  of  their  opponents 
from  beneath  ;  cf.  Bellum  Gallicum  4.  12.  2. 

6.  lusus  inf  antium  :  so  Caesar  writes,  Bellum  Gallicum  6.  21.  3  : 
ab    parvulis    labori    ac    duritiae    student;     cf.    Seneca,    Epistulae 
Morales   36.  7 :    si  in  Parthia   natus   esset,  arcum   infans   statim 
tenderet,  si  in  Germania,   protinus  puer  tenerum    hastile    vibraret 
('  if  he  had  been  born  in  Parthia,  straightway  in  his  infancy  he 
would  bend  the  bow,  if  in  Germany,  forthwith  in  boyhood  he 
would  launch  the  flexible  sapling  '). 

7.  inter :    together  with.  —  familiam  :    the  slaves.  —  penates  : 
the  "  home,"  including  house  and  household  chattels.  —  iura 
successionum :   inherited  titles  to  possession,  e.g.  the  right  to  a 
holding  of  land. 

9.  maximus  natu  :  it  cannot  be  shown  that  the  right  of  primo- 
geniture existed  as  a  principle  universally  observed  in  the  German 
laws  of  inheritance.  Hence,  if  the  statement  of  Tacitus  as  to 
the  procedure  among  the  Tenctfiri  be  correct,  it  is  an  isolated 
instance.  —  melior :  not  in  a  moral  but  in  the  physical  sense, 


NOTES  103 

as  we  use  the  expression  "  better  man  "  with  reference  to  the 
superiority  of  one  of  two  combatants  over  his  rival. 

Chapter  33. 

The  Bructeri,  the  Chamavi,  and  the  Angrivarii. 

1.  iuxta  :  said  from  the  point  of  view  of  one  who  is  going  north 
into  the  interior,  away  from  the  Rhine.  —  Bructeri :   divided  by 
other  ancient  sources  into  the  Greater  Bructeri  and  the  Lesser  ; 
the  latter,  whose  defeat  by  the  Chamavi  and  the  Angrivarii  is 
here  alluded  to,  had  detached  themselves  from  the  rest  of  their 
tribe  and  taken  possession  of  the  territory  between  the  Upper 
Lippe  and  the  Upper  Ems.     The  race  was  well  known  to  the 
Romans  as  a  redoubtable  foe.     At  the  battle  of  the  Teutoburg 
Forest  they  captured  the  eagle  of  the  19th  Legion  but  the  stand- 
ard was  recovered  by  a  punitive  expedition  sent  among  them 
by   Germanicus.     The   Lesser   Bructeri   and   their,  prophetess, 
Veleda  (see  note  on  8.  9),  had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  revolt 
of  Civilis.  —  occurrebant :  in  a  geographical  sense,  equivalent  to 
habitabant.  —  nunc  :  the  event  was,  therefore,  a  recent  occurrence. 
This  defeat  —  it  by  no  means  amounted  to  annihilation  of  the 
Lesser  Bruct8ri,  as  Tacitus  reports  —  occurred  in  the  interval 
between  the  year  70  A.D.  and  the  date  of  this  treatise. 

2.  Chamavos :    their  seat  was  in  Holland,  southeast  of  the 
Zuyder  Zee.     Their  conquest  of  the  BructSri  enabled  them  to 
extend  their  domain  south  toward  the  Lippe  ;  however,  they  did 
not  desert  their  original  abode,  as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
their  name  survived  in  the  district  called  Hamaland  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  —  Angrivarios :    they  lived  along  the  Weser  in  modern 
Hanover.     They  retained  their  tribal  unity  and  then-  name, 
shortened   to   Angrarii,  Angarii,  down   to  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne. 

3.  penitus  excisis :   nevertheless  they  are  mentioned  in  sub- 
sequent centuries  and  continued  to  hold  territory  between  the 
Lippe  and  the  Ruhr ;  their  name  survived  in  the  medieval  can- 
ton Borahtra  in  Westphalia. 

5.  ne  spectaculo  quidem :  Tacitus  uses  both  the  dative  and 
the  ablative  after  invidere ;  the  ablative  of  the  thing  is  the  more 
frequent  construction  in  the  Latin  of  the  Empire. 


104  NOTES 

7.  oblectationi  oculisque :  best  handled  in  translation  as  a 
hendiadys ;  with  oculis,  nostris  or  Romania  is  understood. 

Tacitus  writes  as  though  the  battle  were  a  huge  gladiatorial 
contest,  staged  by  the  gods  for  the  benefit  of  the  Roman  troops 
who  witnessed  it.  There  was,  however,  the  additional  satis- 
faction that  the  strife  of  the  Germans  helped  secure  the  position 
of  Rome. 

9.  odium  sui :  for  a  similar  sentiment  as  to  the  value  to  Rome 
of  dissension  among  native  races,  see  Agricola  12.  4-5  :  nee  aliud 
adversus  validissimas  gentis  pro  nobis  utilius  quam  quod  in  com- 
mune non  consulunt.  —  urgentibus  imperil  fatis :  to  interpret 
these  words,  as  has  been  done  by  some  editors,  as  implying  that 
the  last  hour  of  Rome  is  drawing  near  and  that  the  destruction 
of  the  Empire  by  the  Teutonic  peoples  is  threatening,  is  out  of 
keeping  with  the  lively  hopes  as  to  the  principate  of  Trajan  ex- 
pressed in  Agricola  3.  1-4 :  quamquam  primo  statim  beatissimi 
saeculi  ortu  .  .  .  augeat  .  .  .  cotidie  felicitatem  temporum  Nerva 
Traianus.  Compare  also  the  statement 'as  to  Rome's  expansion 
in  Germania  29.  9 :  protulit  .  .  .  magnitudo  populi  Romani  ultra 
Rhenum,  et  cet.  Fatis  is  not  doom,  but  destiny,  "  star  of  Empire," 
which,  of  course,  carries  with  it  heavy  responsibilities.  The 
thought  may  be  rendered  :  under  the  stress  of  (our)  imperial  destiny. 

Chapter  34. 

The  Dulgubnii,  the  Chasuarii,  and  the  Frisians. 

1.  a  tergo  :  as  the  words  a  fronte  Frisii  indicate,  the  Chamavi 
and  the  Angrivarii  are  thought  of  as  facing  west  and  northwest 
toward  the  sea.  Hence  a  tergo  means  to  the  south  and  east.  — 
Dulgubnii :  east  of  the  Weser,  in  modern  Hanover.  —  Chasuarii  : 
located  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Ems,  along  the  Hase. 

3.  Frisii :  they  extended  along  the  coast  of  Holland  between 
the  Rhine  and  the  Ems.  Their  name  and  their  place  of  abode 
have  remained  unaffected  by  the  vicissitudes  of  history.  —  exci- 
piunt :  this  verb  develops  the  meaning  of  '  coming  next  to:' 
precisely  as  does  Greek  tK5tx°nat',  see,  e.g.,  Herodotus  4.39: 

dird  Tdt/TT/s  (TTJS  HepffiKrjs  &KTrjs)  tKdeKpfj.tvi)  17   Affffvplrj  Kal  &Ttb   Affffvplijs  ri 

'Apaply  ('  and  next  to  Persia  Assyria,  and  to  Assyria  Arabia  ').  — 
maioribus   minoribusque :    Tacitus  is  the   only  ancient  author 


NOTES  105 

to  mention  such  an  ethnic  partition  of  the  Frisians,  although 
the  Bructeri  were  so  divided  (cf.  note  on  33.  1),  and  Pliny  the 
Elder  distinguishes  the  Chauci,  closely  akin  in  origin  to  the 
Frisians,  and  their  near  neighbors  on  the  coast  of  the  North  Sea, 
by  the  same  terminology  (Naturalis  Historia  16.  (1).  2).  It 
is  probable,  that,  as  has  been  assumed  in  the  case  of  the  Bructeri, 
the  epithets  indicate  the  separation  between  a  mother  stock 
(maiores)  and  an  emigrated  colony  (minores). 

4.  utraeque :    uterque  is  not  infrequently  used  in   its   plural 
forms  when  either  of  the  two  members  involved  denotes  a  col- 
lectivity, or  when  the  members  of  the  pair  are  closely  allied. 

5.  praetexuntur  :   the  river  is  conceived  as  a  fringe  or  edging, 
comparable  to  the  stripe  which  bordered  the  toga  praetexta. 

6.  insuper  :  in  addition  to  the  river.  —  lacus  :  in  ancient  times 
the  land  of  the  Frisians  was  a  country  of  lagoons  and  salt  marshes 
which  nowadays  the  dikes  have  reclaimed.     The  most  consider- 
able of  the  lakes  was  the  Flevo,  since  the  great  inundation  in  the 
thirteenth  century  merged  in  the  Zuyder  Zee.  —  Romanis  .  .  . 
navigates  :  in  the  expeditions  of  Drusus,  12  B.C.,  Tiberius,  5  A.D., 
and  Germanicus,  15  and  16  A.D. 

7.  ilia  :    so.  parte.  —  super esse  adhuc :    are  still  to  be  reached; 
the  explorations  had  stopped  short  of  the  farthest  goal  possible. 
Thus  Pliny  the  Elder,  Naturalis  Historia  2.  (67).  167,  is  careful 
to  say  :  Septentrionalis  vero  Oceanus  maiore  ex  parte  navigatus  est 
auspiciis  divi  Augusti  ('but  the  greater  part  of  the  Northern 
Ocean  was  traversed  under  the  auspices  of  the  deified  Augustus'). 

8.  Herculis  columnas :   the  fame  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  at 
Gibraltar,  marking  the  limits  of  the  known  world  to  the  west, 
and  of  such  rocky  barriers  as  the  Symplegades  in  the  east  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Black  Sea,  stimulated  the  location  of  analogous 
portals  elsewhere,  and  naturally  in  the  mysterious  north.     Some 
traveler's   "  yarn  "   of  great  cliffs  or  rocky  islets   (cf.    Pliny, 
Naturalis  Historia  6.  199,  ita  (i.e.  columnae)  appellantur  parvae 

insulae)  doubtless  furnished  a  basis  for  the  tradition. 

9.  magnificum :   imposing. 

11.  Druso  Germanico:  the  brother  of  Tiberius,  the  elder 
Drusus,  on  whom  the  epithet  Germanicus,  to  be  borne  also  by 
his  descendants,  was  conferred  after  his  death.  In  the  words  of 


106  NOTES 

Suetonius,  Claudius  1,  is  Drusus  .  .  .  dux  .  .  .  Germanici  belli 
Oceanum  septentrionalem  primus  Romanorum  ducum  navigavit 
('  this  Drusus,  while  in  charge  of  the  war  with  Germany,  first  of 
Roman  generals  sailed  the  Northern  Ocean  ').  This  feat,  as  the 
first  venture  into  unknown  waters,  put  a  spell  on  the  popular 
imagination  and  is  hence  singled  out  here  as  if  it  were  the  only 
achievement  of  the  kind,  at  the  cost  of  suppressing  mention  of 
later  expeditions. 

12.  nemo  temptavit :  nevertheless  the  fleet  of  Tiberius  had 
operated  extensively  in  these  waters  in  its  voyage  to  the  Elbe ; 
cf .  note  on  1.  4.  In  16  A.  o.the  fleet  of  Germanicus,  son  of  Drusus, 
had  been  wrecked  off  the  Ems  and  scattered  over  the  Northern 
Ocean.  Failure  to  mention  acquaintance  with  the  North  Sea 
gained  under  duress,  and  not  as  the  result  of  deliberate  explora- 
tion, is,  however,  not  so  surprising  as  the  omission  of  allusion 
to  the  voyage  of  Tiberius. 

Chapter  36. 
The  Chauci. 

1.  novimus  :   we  have  been  acquainting  ourselves  with. 

2.  redit :    bears  back.     According  to  the  geographical  notions 
of  the  times,  the*northwest  coast  of  Germany  was  conceived  of  as 
bending  inward  in  a  great  curve,  ending  in  the  peninsula  of  the 
Cimbri  (Jutland),  which  was  erroneously  located  far  to  the  east. 
—  Chaucorum  gens :    they  occupied  the  coast  and  the  adjacent 
regions  of  the  interior  lying  between  the  Ems  and  the  Elbe. 
They  were  divided  by  the  Weser  into  Maiores  and  Minores. 

3.  quamquam  incipiat :    the  subjunctive  is  the  predominant 
mood  with  quamquam  in  Tacitus  and  writers  of  his  period. 

4.  obtenditur :   abuts  on. 

6.  in  Chattos  usque :  this  junction  of  the  boundaries  of  the 
Chauci  and  the  Chatti  could  have  been  effected  if  these  two 
peoples  had  between  them  absorbed  or  expelled  the  Cherusci, 
whose  power  had  been  on  the  wane  for  two  generations  at  this 
time.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Cherusci  had  been  pushed  east 
of  the  Weser.  On  the  other  hand,  this  account  of  the  extension 
of  the  domain  of  the  Chauci  to  the  south  is  at  variance  with  all 
other  data  as  to  the  location  of  the  tribe  at  this  period.  The 


NOTES  107 

following  eulogistic  description,  in  which  the  characteristics  of  a 
humanized  and  pacifically  inclined  people  are  attributed  to  them, 
has  a  suspiciously  rhetorical  tone.  It  is  possible  that,  lacking 
exact  information  as  to  the  situation  and  traits  of  this  remote 
tribe  of  northwest  Germany,  Tacitus  has  done  here  what  he 
accuses  his  predecessors  of  doing  in  their  accounts  of  Britain, 
viz.  resorting  to  rhetoric  as  a  substitute  for  facts. 

7.  populus  .  .  .  nobilissimus  :  Tacitus's  eulogy  of  the  Chauci 
is  notably  at  odds  with  the  account  of  them  given  by  Pliny, 
Naturalis  Historia  16.  (1).  2,  who  writes  as  an  eye-witness  and 
describes  them  as  a  poor  fisherfolk,  ekeing  out  a  wretched  exist- 
ence in  huts,  which  were  situated  on  dunes  and  artificial  em- 
bankments and  which  were  entirely  surrounded  at  high  tide. 
Pliny's  narrative  doubtless  applied  only  to  the  fringe  of  the 
tribe  along  the  coast  and  is  as  much  too  restricted  as  the  account 
of  Tacitus  is  too  general. 

8.  iustitia :  selected  as  the  chief  motif  in  this  encomium  of  the 
Chauci  and  developed  in  the  following  sentence. 

9.  impotentia:    "the  weakness  of  uncontrolled  passion,"  as 
it  has  been  happily  defined.  —  secret! :  this  epithet  would  fit  the 
Chauci  of  the  coast,  but  not  those  who,  according  to  Tacitus, 
peopled  the  inmensum  terrarum  spatium  in  the  interior,  and  were 
surrounded  by  neighbors. 

10.  nullis  raptibus  .  .  .  populantur :    nevertheless,  under  the 
leadership  of  Gannascus,  a  chieftain  of  the  Canninefates,  the 
Chauci,  after  the  manner  of  the  Vikings  of  a  later  age,  had  com- 
mitted a  piratical  •  foray  against  the  coast  of  Gaul  in  47  A.D.  ; 
cf.  Annales  11.  18. 

11.  quod  :    the  fact  that.  —  ut  superiores  agant :   the  verb  has 
here  its  intransitive  sense  of  live,  exist,  and  the  clause  may  be 
rendered  by  an  abstract  noun,  e.g.  (their)  ascendancy. 

12.  non  per  iniurias :   a  repetition  of  the  theme  iustitia. 

13.  exercitus  :  this  word,  when  applied  to  a  force  of  barbarians, 
connotes  an  organized  army  and  not  an  undisciplined  host.     So 
in  Agricola  32.  24  the  words  of  Calgacus,  hie  dux,  hie  exercitus, 
voice  a  claim  in  keeping  with  the  hortatory  spirit  of  the  address. 
The  Chauci,  like  the  Chatti,  had  adopted  Roman  methods. 

14.  et :  =  etiam. 


108  NOTES 

Chapter  36. 

The  Cherusci. 

1.  in  latere :  i.e.  on  the  east.  —  Cherusci :  when  at  the  height 
of  its  power,  in  the  first  two  decades  of  the  first  century  A.D., 
the  nation  of  the  Cherusci  occupied  the  territory  north  of  the 
Hartz  Mts.  between  the  Elbe  and  the  Weser,  and  reached  to  the 
west  beyond  the  latter  river.     At  the  time  of  Tacitus  the  Chatti 
had  pushed  them  east  of  the  Weser. 

With  their  chieftain,  the  famous  Arminius,  they  were  the  lead- 
ing spirits  in  the  war  which  ended  with  the  destruction  of  Varus 
and  his  three  legions  in  9  A.D.  ;  it  was  their  effective  resistance 
in  the  first  years  of  the  principate  of  Tiberius  that  rendered 
abortive  the  ambition  of  the  Romans  to  extend  their  limits  of 
domination  beyond  the  Rhine.  —  nimiam  .  .  .  pacem :  the 
decline  of  the  power  of  the  Cherusci  was  due  to  civil  feuds  and 
to  the  aggression  of  the  Chatti.  Nevertheless,  it  was  consoling 
to  the  pride  of  the  Romans  to  contemplate  the  decadence  of  the 
redoubtable  foe  which  had  dealt  them  a  blow  which  had  never 
been  adequately  revenged.  Tacitus's  picture  of  the  Cherusci 
is  colored  by  this  consideration. 

2.  diu  .  .  .  inlacessiti :     the  Cherusci   had  been  in  conflict 
with  the  Chatti,  their  inveterate  enemies,  as  recently  as  84  A.D., 
only  fourteen  years  before  the  Germania  was  written. 

4.  falso  quiescas :  one  makes  a  mistake  to  remain  inactive.  — 
manu :  by  force;  cf.  the  metaphor  "  the  mailed  fist." 

6.  nomina  :  strictly  speaking,  not  the  abstracts  themselves  but 
the  qualitative  epithets  implied  by  them.  —  olim :  in  the  days 
of  their  supremacy. 

8.  Fosi  contermina  gens :  this  people  is  not  mentioned  else- 
where but  was  evidently  one  of  the  peoples  acting  under  the 
hegemony  of  the  Cherusci ;  cf.  Annales  1.  60 :  conciti  per  haec  non 
modo  Cherusci  sed  conterminae  gentes. 

Chapter  37. 

The  Cimbri ;  resume  of  Romano-German  relations. 

1.  eundem  .  .  .  sinum :  the  elbow  of  land  referred  to  in 
ingenti  flexu  redit,  35.  2.  —  proximi  Oceano :  an  expression  so 
vague  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  Tacitus  located  the  rem- 


NOTES  109 

nants  of  the  Cimbri  just  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  in  modern 
Schleswig-Holstein,  or  in  Northern  Jutland,  where  other  ancient 
writers  definitely  placed  them  and  where,  to  this  day,  the  names 
of  the  districts,  Himmerland  (Cimbri)  and  Thythaesyssel  (Teu- 
ton!),  perhaps  furnish  philological  evidence  of  the  presence  in 
olden  times  of  the  two  peoples.  At  all  events  the  Cimbri  gave 
their  name  to  the  peninsula  of  Jutland,  called  by  ancient  writers 
Cimbrorum  chersonesus  or  promunturium. 

2.  parva  nunc  civitas  :   descendants  of  a  section  of  the  Cimbri 
which  did  not  join  in  the  great  migration.     Cimbri  are  also  men- 
tioned as  denizens  of  the  "  farthest  east  "  in  these  regions  in  the 
time  of  Augustus,  and,  together  with  neighboring  tribes,  as  suing 
for  the  friendship  of  Rome;  cf.  Res  gestae  divi  Augusti  (a  great 
inscription  found  at  Ancyra)  5.  14-15.  —  gloria :    probably  an 
ablative  of  specification,  balancing  a  spatio  implied  with  parva. 
It  may,  however,  be  explained  as  a  nominative. 

3.  utraque  ripa :    ripa,  without  further  definition,  refers  in 
Tacitus  generally  to  the  Rhine,  but  also  to  the  Danube  according 
to  the  context ;  cf.  Agricola  41.  6  f. :  tot  exercitus  in  Moesia  Dacia- 
que  et  Germania  et  Pannonia  .  .  .  amissi  .  .  .  nee  iam  de  limite 
imperil  et  ripa  (Danuvii)   .  .  .  dubitatum.     Although  the  Cimbri 
had  wandered  along  the  Danube  during  several  years  prior  to 
113  B.C.,  the  date  of  their  first  contact  with  Roman  forces,  during 
the  period  in  which  they  chiefly  menaced  Rome  their  movements 
were  in  the  west.     Hence  it  is  probably  the  Rhine,  ordinarily 
regarded  as  the  boundary  par  excellence  between  Roman  and 
German  lands,   of  which   Tacitus  was  thinking ;    cf.   Agricola 
15.  14-15 :  sic  Germanias  excussisse  iuqum,  et  flumine,  non  Oceano 
defendi;    Velleius  Paterculus,  2.  8:  turn  Cimbri  et  Teutoni  tran- 
scendere   Rhenum.  —  castra  ac  spatia :    encampment  areas.     The 
identification  of  these  abandoned  fortified  sites  with  camps  con- 
structed by  the  Cimbri  rested  probably  on  tradition  rather  than 
on  exact  information.     Whether  such  a  migratory  horde  would 
take  pains  to  protect  itself  by  bivouacs  so  durable  as  to  be  visible 
two  centuries  later,  is  questionable.     Certainly  they  would  not 
intrench  themselves  each  night,  after  the  thoroughgoing  custom 
of  the  Romans.     In  the  case  of  the  Chatti  in  the  time  of  Tacitus, 
vallare  noctem  is  emphasized  as  a  practice  exceptional  among  the 
Germans ;  cf .  30.  9. 


110  NOTES 

4.  ambitu  .  .  .  metiaris :  similarly  the  abandoned  camp  sites 
of  Varus  and  his  legions,  which  were  discovered  by  the  army  of 
Germanicus  in  15  A.D.,  gave  mute  testimony  as  to  the  size  of  the 
forces  which  built  and  occupied  them ;  of.  Annales  1.  61 :  prima 
Vari  castra  lato  ambitu  et  dimensis  principiis  trium  legionum  manus 
ostentabant  ('  the  first  encampment  of  Varus  by  its  broad  circuit 
and  its  regularly  marked  officers'  quarters,  gave  evidence  of  the 
work  of  three  legions  ').  —  molem  manusque  :   not  necessarily  a 
hendiadys,  as  often  explained.     Moles  is  the  whole  mass  of  the 
tribe,  including  women  and  children,  which  the  camp  would  have 
to  be  large  enough  to  contain ;    manus  refers   to   the  fighting 
strength . 

5.  tarn  magni   exitus  fidem :    the  authenticity  of  so  great  an 
emigration.     The  Cimbri  and  the  Teutons  are  said  by  Plutarch, 
Marius  11,  to  have  numbered  300,000  fighting  men  besides  the 
women  and  the  children !     An  accurate  determination  of  their 
number  is  impossible ;    it  doubtless  increased  in  the  course  of 
their  wanderings.  —  sescentesimum  et  quadragesimum  annum : 
according  to  our  generally  accepted  method  of  reckoning,  the 
Varronian  era,  Metellus  and  Carbo  were  consuls  in  113  B.C.,  on 
April  21  of  which  year,  A.  U.  C.  641  began.     Sometime  during 
the  campaigning  season  of  the  year,  Carbo  by  negotiations  suc- 
ceeded in  preventing  the  Cimbri  from  crossing  the  Carnian  Alps 
but  was  subsequently  defeated  by  them.     The  news  of  the  ap- 
proach of  the  Germans  may  conceivably  have  reached  Rome 
before  April  21,  i.e.  in  the  closing  weeks  of  the  year  640,  although 
such  an  hypothesis  assumes  a  meticulous  regard  for  chronological 
minutiae  in  general  foreign  to  Tacitus  and  the  other  ancient  his- 
torians.    The  divergence  in  calculation  is  at  most  a  matter  of 
months  and  we  may  be  sure  that  Tacitus  in  any  case  would  have 
preferred  the  round  number;    cf.   Agricola  34.  14,  where  with 
greater  license  forty-two  years  are  expanded  into  half  a  hundred. 

8.  ad  alterum  .  .  .  Traiani  consulatum :  98  A.D.,  the  year  in 
which  the  Germania  was  written. 

10.  vincitur :  the  tense  implies  that  the  conquest  is  not  yet 
complete.  If  this  is  a  thrust  at  Domitian  and  his  celebration  of  a 
triumph  over  Germany,  as  is  generally  assumed,  it  is  none  the 
less  a  reminder  to  Trajan. 


NOTES  111 

11.  medio  .  .  . '  spatio :    throughout  the  interval;    for  a  like 
combination  of  aevum  and  spatium  see  Agricola  3.  11  :  per  quin- 
decim  annos,  grande  mortalis  aevi  spatium. 

12.  non  Samnis  .  .  .  ne  Parthi  quidem :   only  those  enemies 
that  menaced  Rome  through  a  considerable  period  are  included  — 
hence,  doubtless,  the  omission  of  mention  of  the  invasion  of 
Pyrrhus.     Note  the  shifts  from  singular  to  plural,  from  name  of 
people  to  that  of  country. 

Rome's  struggle  with  the  Samnites  for  ascendancy  in  Central 
Italy  was  protracted  through  three  wars,  the  first  beginning  in 
343  B.C.,  the  last  ending  in  290  B.C.  At  the  battle  of  the  Caudine 
Forks,  an  entire  army  of  Romans  was  forced  to  capitulate.  So 
late  as  the  time  of  Sulla,  the  Samnites  attempted  unsuccessfully 
to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Rome.  —  non  Poeni :  especially,  of 
course,  in  the  conflict  with  Hannibal,  218-201  B.C.  —  Hispaniae  : 
the  subjugation  of  Spain,  to  which  Rome  acquired  the  title  after 
the  Second  Punic  War,  was  marked  by  a  long  series  of  disasters 
to  the  Roman  arms ;  the  reverses  were  due  alike  to  the  deter- 
mined opposition  of  the  Lusitanians  under  the  brave  and  able 
leadership  of  Viriathus,  and  to  the  incapacity  and  knavery  of  the 
Roman  commanders.  The  capture  of  Numantia  by  Scipio 
Aemilianus  in  133  B.C.  ended  the  resistance  of  the  natives. — 
Galliae  :  in  the  invasion  of  the  Senones,  390-387  B.C.,  marked  by 
the  annihilation  of  a  Roman  army  at  the  Allia  and  by  the  siege 
of  the  Capitol,  and  in  subsequent  forays  of  the  Celts  in  360  and 
348  B.C.  Gallic  wars  in  238-222  B.C.  ended  in  the  occupation  of 
Cisalpine  Gaul  by  the  Romans.  The  uprising  of  the  Gauls  under 
Vercingetorix  was  the  most  serious  crisis  in  Caesar's  conquest  of 
Transalpine  Gaul. 

13.  Parthi :  the  ill-fated  expedition  of  Crassus,  which  came  to 
grief  in  53  B.C.,  and  the  abortive  ending  of  Antony's  attempt  at  an 
invasion  of  Parthia  in  36  B.C.,  are  the  outstanding  features  of  the 
continued  disputes  between  Rome  and  the  Parthians  for  the 
possession  of  Syria  and  Armenia,  and  the  control  of  the  East. 
The  return  (20  B.C.)  of  the  standards  captured  from  Crassus 
marked  only  a  lull  in  the  protracted  clash  of  interests  between 
these  two  traditional  foes.  —  Arsacis :    founder  and  first  mon- 
arch of  the  Parthian  Empire  who,  about  250  B.C.,  brought  about 


112  NOTES 

the  secession  of  the  Parthians  from  the  rule  of  the  Seleucids. 
His  name  was  assumed  as  a  title  by  his  successors  ;  cf .  the  analo- 
gous history  of  the  name  Caesar. 

14.  acrior :     a  sharper  stimulus.     Even  in   the   monarchical 
states  the  Germans  enjoyed  a  fuller  measure  of  popular  freedom 
than  obtained  in  the  Oriental  despotism. 

15.  et  ipse  :    as  in  Agricola  25.  22,  diviso  et  ipse  in  tris  partis 
exercitu  incessit,  emphasizing  a  supplementary  fact  or  considera- 
tion ;  translate  :  the  East  on  its  part.  —  Pacoro  :   son  of  Orodes  I 
and  commander  of  the  Parthian  armies  in  several  unsuccessful 
invasions  of  Syria,  the  last  of  which,  in  38  B.C.,  ended  in  the  com- 
plete defeat  of  Pacorus  and  his  death  in  battle.     Thus  the  deaths 
of  two  conspicuous  leaders,  one  on  each  side,  offset  each  other.  — 
infra  Ventidium  delectus  Oriens :    the  personification  is  similar 
to  that  contained  in  the  lines  from  Halleck's  Marco  Bozzaris  : 

"  The  Turk  was  dreaming  of  the  hour 

When  Greece,  her  knees  in  suppliance  bent, 
Should  tremble  at  his  power." 

Abasement  at  the  feet  of  a  Ventidius  was  insult  added  to  injury, 
insinuates  Tacitus,  breathing  the  scorn  of  the  aristocrat  for  the 
upstart.  P.  Ventidius  Bassus,  consul  suffectus  43  B.C.,  legate  of 
Antony  and  conqueror  of  Pacorus,  had  risen  from  a  lowly  origin, 
having,  so  scandal  asserted,  once  been  a  muleteer. 

16.  Carbone :    Papirius  Carbo,  consul  in  113  B.C.,  mentioned 
above.     He  treacherously  attacked  the  Cimbri,  though  they  had 
complied  with  his  orders  to  withdraw  from  the  territory  of  the 
Taurisci,  and  was  defeated.     A  storm  alone  saved  his  army  from 
utter  destruction. 

17.  Cassio :  in  107  B.C.,  L.  Cassius  Longinus,  the  consul,  was 
killed  and  his  army  cut  down  or  captured  by  the  Tigurini,  a 
Helvetian  people  which,  as  an  incident  to  the  great  tribal  move- 
ments of  the  time,  made  common  cause  with  the  Cimbri  and 
pressed  into  Southern  Gaul.  —  Scauro  .  .  .  Caepione  .  .  .  Mallio : 
consular  legate,  proconsul,  and  consul  respectively,  commanders 
of  the  Roman  armies  which  in  105  B.C.  essayed  to  oppose  at  the 
Rhone  the  advance  of  the  Cimbri '  toward  Italy.     The  battle  of 
Arausio,  which  ensued,  ended  in  a  disaster  to  Roman  arms 


NOTES  113 

"  which  materially  and  morally  surpassed  the  day  of  Cannae  " 
(Mommsen).  Caepione  and  Mallio  are  joined  closely,  apart  from 
Scauro,  because  his  detachment  was  cut  to  pieces  and  he  him- 
self captured  in  an  engagement  separate  from  the  battle  proper. 
18.  quinque  :  for  the  sake  of  making  as  strong  a  case  as  possi- 
ble, Tacitus  has  committed  a  slight  exaggeration ;  Carbo's  army 
suffered  a  reverse  but  was  not  destroyed.  Another  defeat  which 
Tacitus  might  have  added  to  his  catalogue  was  that  inflicted  on 
M.  lunius  Silanus  and  his  army  in  109  B.C. 

20.  Caesari  abstulerunt :  for,  under  the  Empire,  the  princeps 
was  de  jure  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies  and  expeditions 
were  carried  out  under  his  auspices.     In  connection  with  ab- 
stulerunt we   may   compare   the   wail   of   Augustus,  Suetonius, 
Augustus  23  :    Quintili  Vare,    legiones  redde.  —  Marius  in  Italia : 
of  the  two  great  victories,  one  at  Aquae  Sextiae  in  Gaul  (102 
B.C.)  and  the  other  at   Vercellae  near  the  Po   (101    B.C.),  by 
which  Italy  was  saved  for  the  time  being  from  conquest  by  the 
Germans,   the  latter  only  is  mentioned,   doubtless  because  it 
was  the  final  and  decisive  engagement. 

21.  lulius  in  Gallia :    the  victory  over  Ariovistus  in  58  B.C. 
and  the  rout  of  the  Usipetes  and  the  Tencteri  in  55  B.C.,  are 
instances  in  point.  —  Nero  :   i.e.  Tiberius. 

22.  ingentes  Gai  Caesaris  minae :    Caligula's  expedition  of 
39  A.D.,  referred  to  in   Agricola,   13.  11  f. :  ni  .  .  .  ingentes  ad- 
versus  Germaniam  conatus  frustra  fuissent.     As  has  been  pointed 
out  in  the  note  on  this  passage  of  the  Agricola,  the  actual  achieve- 
ments of  the  campaign  were  out  of  keeping  with  its  pretensions, 
though  as  a  military  demonstration  it  may  not  have  been  entirely 
futile.     We  may  be  sure  that  Caligula's  acts  lost  nothing  of  the 
picturesque  in  the  accounts  given  of  him  by  the  ancient  historians. 

24.  occasione  .  .  .  civilium  armorum :  coincident  with  the 
civil  wars  of  69  A.D.,  the  "  Year  of  the  Four  Emperors,"  was  the 
insurrection  of  the  Batavi  under  the  leadership  of  Civilis;  the 
revolt  was  undertaken  ostensibly  to  further  the  cause  of  Ves- 
pasian against  Vitellius,  but  was  continued  after  the  former 
had  made  good  his  claim  to  the  principate. 

26.  proximis  temporibus  triumphati :  an  allusion  to  the 
so-called  falsus  e  Germania  triumphus  (Agricola  39.  4),  cele- 


114  NOTES 

brated  by  Domitian  after  his  campaign  against  the  Chatti  in 
83-84  A.D.  The  extension  and  fortification  of  the  frontier  were 
tangible  and  significant  results  of  his  operations,  which,  how- 
ever, in  the  eyes  of  his  critics,  did  not  justify  a  triumph. 

Chapter  38. 

The  Suebian  races ;    their  characteristic  national  head-dress. 

1.  nunc  de  Suebis :  the  account  of  the  peoples  gathered  by 
Tacitus  under  the  generic  term  Suebi  is  continued  through 
chap.  45.  From  the  information  here  given,  the  sources  of 
which  it  is  impossible  to  fix,  it  would  appear  that  the  name  was 
applied  to  a  confederation  of  separate,  though  cognate,  races, 
united  in  the  worship  of  a  common  divinity.  Their  original 
habitat,  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Elbe,  extended  far  to  the 
east  and  northeast,  whence  it  is  that  the  Baltic  could  be  called 
Suebicum  Mare  (chap.  45).  Their  adventurous  and  aggressive 
temperament  led  to  constant  expansion  of  their  domination, 
mentioned  by  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum  4.  3,  as  a  national  am- 
bition. Large  bodies  of  them  had  migrated  from  their  native 
haunts  before  the  time  of  Caesar  and  had  established  them- 
selves in  Southern  and  Southwestern  Germany.  Here  they 
made  such  races  as  the  Usipetes,  Tencteri,  and  Ubii  chronic 
victims  of  their  "  will  to  power,"  and  ultimately  became  known 
to  Caesar  as  gens  longe  maxima  et  bellicosissima  Germanorum 
omnium. 

The  name,  in  all  probability  originating  in  non-Suebian  peoples 
and  having  the  general  force  of  an  epithet,  was  easily  extensible 
and  naturally  as  applicable  to  any  one  of  the  races  of  the  con- 
federation as  their  ethnic  name  proper.  Furthermore,  the  rapid 
growth  of  Suebian  power  doubtless  caused  confusion  between 
the  true  Suebi  and  races  which  had  come  under  their  sphere 
of  influence.  These  considerations  help  to  explain  the  varia- 
tion of  the  application  of  the  name  discernible  in  the  ancient 
sources.  The  term,  as  utilized  by  Tacitus  in  chap.  2,  is  com- 
posite but  is  restricted  to  true  Suebian  stocks  which  had  occupied 
territory  west  and  south  of  the  Elbe,  being  set  off  from  the 
peoples  of  Eastern  Germany,  embraced  under  the  name  Vandilii. 
(See  notes  on  2.  16.)  The  extension  of  the  name  in  this  and  the 


NOTES  115 

following  chapters,  to  include  all  the  peoples  of  Eastern  Ger- 
many between  the  Danube  and  the  Baltic,  the  Suiones  of  the 
Scandinavian  Peninsula,  and  even  some  non-Germanic  races, 
transcends  all  limits  of  usage  elsewhere  and  rests  upon  a  differ- 
ent set  of  data  from  that  utilized  in  chap.  2. 

3.    adhuc :     besides,   i.e.   in  addition  to  the  collective  name 
Suebi. 

5.  obliquare  crinem :  to  comb  the  hair  athwart  (from  its  natural 
direction  or  '  hang  ').     The  locks  thus  arranged  lay  across  or 
at  an  angle  with  the  perpendicular  lines  in  which  they  would 
have   hung   had   they   been   combed   down.  —  nodo  .  .  .  sub- 
stringere :    the  position  of  the  knot  on  the  head  was  subject  to 
variation,  as  we  might  surmise  and  as  is  evident  from  line  11  below. 
In  certain  artistic  representations  of  ancient  Germans  the  knot 
is  to  be  seen  on  one  side  of  the  head,  over  the  ear. 

6.  Suebi  a  ceteris  Germanis :    according  to  the  testimony  of 
Tacitus,  this  style  of  dressing   the  hair  would   be  widespread 
among  the  Germans  and  would  have  especially  attracted  the 
observation  of  the  Romans.     Naturally,  therefore,  as  is  evident 
from  references  in  other  writers  of  the  Empire,  the  nodus  came 
to  be  regarded  as  the  distinctive  racial  coiffure  of  all  Germans. 

8.  imitatione :    as  the  fashionable  youths  of  Athens  are  said 
to  have  worn  their  hair  long  in  imitation  of  the  Spartan  mode ; 
see  Lysias,  'Tirfy  TAavridiov  18 ;  Aristophanes,  Equites  580. 

9.  rarum :    sc.  est. 

10.  usque    ad    canitiem :     balances    intra   iuventae   spatium. 
No  member  contrasting  with  rarum  is  expressed  because  the 
fashion  has  been  characterized  as  common  to  the  whole  body  of 
Suebian  freemen.  —  retro  sequuntur :   the  locution  is  surprising ; 
perhaps  the  image  present  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  is  the  move- 
ment of  the  comb  back  from  the  forehead  in  the  process  of 
arrangement. 

11.  ornatiorem :    a  more  elaborate  arrangement;    sc.  capillum. 

12.  ut  ament  amenturve:    a  shaft  directed  at  the  fop  and 
debauche"   of  Roman  society.     A  too  punctilious  arrangement 
of  the  hair  was  proverbially  a  mark  of  effeminacy;   see,  e.g., 
the  biting  epigram  of  Calvus  on  Pompey,  Magnus  quern  metuunt 
omnes,  digito  caput  uno  scalpit,  et  seq.  ('  Magnus,  of  whom  all 


116  NOTES 

are  in  awe,  scratches  his  head  with  one  finger  ' ;  Miiller,  F rag- 
menta,  p.  86,  no.  18) ;  Cicero,  Pro  Sestio  8.  18-19,  the  contrast 
between  the  young  profligate  unguentis  adfluens,  calamistrata 
coma  ('  dripping  with  perfumes,  with  locks  curled  by  the  iron  '), 
and  the  type  of  old-time  Roman  capillo  ita  horrido;  Catiline, 
2.  sect.  22  (of  Catiline's  partisans),  quos  pexo  capillo,  nitidos 
.  .  .  videtis. 

13.  in  ...  altitudinem  quandam :    there  is  an  ellipsis  of  an 
adversative  idea  before  the  preposition,  which  is  used  in  its 
frequent  final  sense,  with  a  view  to.     The  phrase  is  joined  closely 
to  compti. 

14.  ut  hostium  oculis  armantur :    this  is  the  .elliptical  use  of 
ut,  to  limit  an  assertion  to  particular  conditions  or  circumstances, 
which  is  to  be  seen  in  such  contexts  as  Livy,  4.  13.  1 :  Spurius 
Maelius  .  .  .  ut   illis   temporibus,    praedives    ('  Spurius   Maelius 
.  .  .  for  those  times  a  very  rich  man  ') ;  Cicero,  Brutus  10.  41 : 
Themistocles  .  .  .  ut  apud  nos,  perantiquus;  ut  apud  Athenienses, 
non  ita  sane  vetus  ('  Themistocles  ...  as  judged  by  our  stand- 
ards, belonging  to  a  very  early  age  —  as  judged  by  Athenian 
standards,  not  of  such  an  ancient  epoch  ') ;    cf.  also  Germania, 
30.  7.     Translate :    they   are   armed,  —  for  the  eyes  of  the  enemy 
that  is  (not,  of  course,  for  the  give-and-take  of  physical  combat 
for  which  they  need  other  weapons  than  an  awe-inspiring  .ap- 
pearance). 

The  influence  of  ocular  impressions  on  the  issue  of  battle  is  a 
rhetorical  commonplace;  cf.  .Gorgias,  Encomium  of  Helen  16; 
in  Xenophon,  Symposium  2.  14,  the  coward  Pisander,  the 
Athenian  Bob  Acres,  does  not  enlist  StA  ri>  n^  Stvao-ffai  X67xais 
d«Ti/3X(*7reu'  ('  by  reason  of  inability  to  stand  the  sight  of  spears  ') ; 
Propertius,  4.  6. 49-50 ;  Tacitus,  Agricola  32.  14  f .,  and  Germania 
43.  25. 

Chapter  39. 

The  Semnflnes ;   the  central  cult  of  the  Suebi. 

1.  nobilissimos :  cf .  the  similar  claim  made  by  Calgacus, 
Agricola  30.  10,  nobilissimi  totius  Britanniae.  —  Semnones : 
they  occupied  at  this  time  the  territory  between  the  Elbe  and 
the  Oder  of  which  the  Duchy  of  Brandenburg  is  now  a  part. 


NOTES  117 

In  later  times,  they  were  merged  with  other  races  under  the 
appellation  Alamanni ;  however,  they  did  not  lose  their  original 
ethnic  identity  as  Suebi,  for  it  is  from  them  that  modern  Suabia, 
once  a  part  of  the  domain  of  the  Alamanni,  received  its  name. 

2.  stato  tempore :    at  a  standing  festal  season,  not  necessarily 
of  annual  recurrence. 

3.  silvam  .  .  .   sacram :    cf .  9.  9,  lucos  ac  nemora  consecrant. 
—  auguriis  patrum  et  prisca  formidine    sacram :    these  words 

form  a  complete  hexameter.  Tacitus  doubtless  slipped  into  the 
rhythm  unconsciously ;  similar  lapses  —  for  so  ancient  stylists 
considered  them  —  occur  semi-occasionally  elsewhere  in  Latin 
prose  writers.  The  first  clause  in  Livy's  preface  to  his  history 
forms  part  of  a  hexameter  and  in  Book  22.  50  the  words  haec  ubi 
dicta  dedit,  stringit  gladium  cuneoque  facto  per  medios  are  a  hexam- 
eter and  a  hah*.  The  diction  here  has  a  poetic  color,  com- 
parable to  Vergil,  Aeneid  7.  172,  (tectum)  horrendum  silvis  et 
religione  parentum,  and  this  fact  rendered  it  easy  for  Tacitus 
to  glide  into  a  rhythmic  cadence.  The  ablatives  are  causal ; 
translate :  owing  to  portents  which  appeared  to  their  sires,  et  cet. 

4.  eiusdem  sanguinis  :   i.e.  Sueborum. 

5.  publice  :  in  the  name  of  the  association.     On  human  sacrifice 
among  the  Germans,  see  note  on  9.  2. 

6.  horrenda  primordia  :    gruesome  introductory  ceremonies. 

1.  nisi  vinculo  ligatus :  the  interpretation  given  by  Tacitus 
of  the  inner  significance  of  this  usage  is  correct.  Cords  and 
bonds  figure  not  infrequently  in  ritual  and  religion  as  symbols 
of  the  subjection  of  a  devotee  to  a  deity.  The  fillet  used  in 
Greek  and  Roman  worship  was  in  origin  a  badge  of  devotion 
and  consecration  to  a  higher  power.  See  on  the  subject,  Bonner, 
The  Sacred  Bond,  American  Philological  Association,  Transac- 
tions and  Proceedings,  44  (1913),  esp.  p.  239. —  minor:  an 
inferior;  cf.  Horace,  Epistulae  1.1.  106,  sapiens  uno  minor  est 
love  ('  the  philosopher  is  inferior  to  Jove  alone  '). 

8.  prae  se  f erens :  giving  open  testimony  to.  Cf.  Agricola 
43.  14,  speciem  doloris  .  .  .  prae  se  tulit.  —  attolli :  reflexive  in 
meaning,  as  is  also  evolvuntur  below.  The  notion  underlying 
the  observance  was  doubtless  that  a  fall  was  due  to  the  visita- 
tion of  providence  and  that  he  whom  the  god  had  cast  down 


118  NOTES 

could  not,  without  defying  the  divine  will,  raise  himself  to  his 
feet  while  within  the  limits  of  the  precinct. 

10.  superstitio :    not  to  be  translated  by  the  English  deriva- 
tive.    It  was  the  term  applied  by  the  Romans  to  any  barbarian 
cult  that  had  not  received  the  sanction  of  the  state  religion. 
The  word  had  somewhat  the  same  connotation  to  the  Roman 
as  heathenism  has  to  the  Christian.  —  tamquam :    sint  is  to  be 
supplied.  —  initia    gentis :     the   god    to    whom    the   grove   was 
sacred  was  regarded  as  the  progenitor  of  the  Suebi,  his  precinct 
as  the  "  cradle  of  the  race."     The  claim  of  the  Semnones  to 
be  the  original  Suebi  and  the  "  chosen  people,"  rested  on  the 
fact  that  the  grove  was  in  their  land  and  under  their  custody. 

11.  deus :     this  supreme   divinity   of   the   Suebi   was,  in  all 
probability,  Tiu. 

12.  centum  pagi :    Caesar,   Bellum  Gallicum  4.  1.  4,  makes  a 
similar  assertion  concerning  the  Suebi  of  Southwest  Germany. 

13.  magno  .  .  .  corpore :  referring  to  the  numerical  prepon- 
derance of  the  "  body  politic." 

Chapter  40. 

The  Langobardi ;  the  seven  tribes  that  worshiped  the  god- 
dess Nerthus ;  her  cult. 

1.  Langobardos :  the  forefathers  of  the  powerful  Lombards 
who,  in  568  A.D.,  under  the  command  of  Alboin,  invaded  Italy. 
Some  critics  believe  that  the  Langobardi  had  their  seat  origi- 
nally in  Scandinavia,  whence  they  emigrated  to  Germany.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  we  find  them  in  Roman  times  established 
along  the  lower  Elbe,  south  and  southeast  of  modern  Hamburg. 
—  plurimis  ac  valentissimis  nationibus :  such  as  the  Chauci 
to  the  north  and  west,  the  Angrivarii  to  the  west,  the  Dulgubnii 
and  the  Semnones  on  the  south  and  southeast. 

3.  proeliis  ac  periclitando :  editors  quote  in  this  connection 
the  comment  of  Velleius  Paterculus,  2.  106,  who,  writing  in  the 
principate  of  Tiberius,  characterizes  this  race  as  etiam  Germana 
feritate  ferocior.  We  should  temper  this  statement  by  recalling 
that  the  history  of  Velleius  is  encomiastic  and  that  he  was  con- 
cerned to  magnify  the  deeds  of  his  hero,  Tiberius,  against  the 
Langobardi.  The  topical  form  of  the  comment  betrays  its 


NOTES  119 

rhetorical  nature  ;  cf.  the  locution  of  the  same  type  in  Livy,  21.  4, 
perfidia  ( Hannibalis)  plus  quam  Punica.  —  deinde :  next  in 
position,  i.e.  to  the  north,  since  Tacitus  in  his  description  pro- 
ceeds from  the  interior  to  the  sea. 

The  tribes  here  named,  united  in  a  cult  group,  were  located 
north  of  the  Elbe,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hamburg  and  Liibeck,  and 
still  farther  to  the  north  in  Schleswig-Holstein.  The  Anglii 
or  Angles,  the  later  invaders  of  Britain,  may  be  definitely  placed 
along  the  east  coast  of  Schleswig,  north  of  the  Kiel  canal.  The 
neighboring  Varini  were  closely  related  to  them. 

6.  in  commune :    they  are  united  in  a  cult  association.  — 
Nerthum :    closely  analogous  to  the  rites  of  Nerthus  here  de- 
scribed were  those  celebrated  in  Rome,  during  the  Empire,  in 
honor  of  Magna  Mater  or  Cybele.     A  feature  of  the  festival  of 
Magna  Mater  was  the  lavatio,  performed  on  March  27  of  each 
year;    the  cult  symbol  of  the  goddess,  the  famous  meteorite 
brought  from  Phrygia  in  205  B.C.,  was  placed  on  a  car  drawn 
by  cows,  and  was  escorted  by  a  procession  to  a  small  tributary 
of  the  Tiber,  the  Almo.     The  idol,  the  chariot,  and  the  other 
paraphernalia  of  the  cult  underwent  a  ceremonial  lustration  in 
the  waters  of  the  brook. 

It  seems  probable,  therefore,  that,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Roman  student  of  comparative  religion  (see  also  note  on  3.  1), 
Tacitus  has  identified  Nerthus  with  Magna  Mater  on  the  basis 
of  these  striking  external  resemblances  in  cult  rites  and  did  not 
possess  any  accurate  information  as  to  the  essential  nature  of 
the  German  goddess.  She  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  feminine 
counterpart  of  a  male  divinity,  Njordr,  worshiped  by  the  Norse 
peoples  as  a  god  of  fertility,  the  weather,  and  trade. 

7.  Terram   matrem :    stress  has  been   laid  on   the   fact   that 
Nerthus  is  defined,  not  as  Magna  Mater  but  as  Terra  Mater; 
hence  the  theory  has   been   advanced    that   Tacitus   intended 
that  his  readers  should  regard  her,  not  as  the  German  Cybele, 
but  as  a  goddess  of  the  earth  and  vegetation,  comparable  to 
the  Roman  Tellus  (also  Terra)  Mater,  whose  festival  was  cele- 
brated on  April  15  and  who  stood  in  close  connection  with  the 
Manes  as  a  divinity  of  the  lower  world;  see,  e.g.,  Suetonius, 
Tiberius  85.      This   view,   however,    presupposes    a   ritualistic 


120  NOTES 

precision  in  the  language  of  Tacitus  which  seems  unlikely  in 
the  face  of  the  tendency,  constantly  visible  in  Roman  mythology 
and  religion,  to  blend  the  personalities  and  the  functions  of 
Ops,  Terra,  Magna  Mater,  Ceres,  et  cet. — intervenire  :  mingles  in. 

8.  invehi  populis  :    populis  is  dative.     The  image  of  the  god- 
dess, we  are  to  understand,  was  drawn  from  place  to  place ; 
cf.  the  allusion  in  Tibullus,  1.  4.  68-9,  to  the  similar  progress 
of  the  car  of  Cybele,  escorted  by  her  priests : 

Idaeae  currus  ille  sequatur  Opis 
et  tercentenas  erroribus  expleat  urbes 

('  let  him  follow  the  cars  of  Idaean  Ops  and  complete  the  tale 
of  thrice  a  hundred  cities  in  his  wanderings  ').  —  insula  Oceani : 
an  old  but  erroneous  folk  tradition  settled  on  Rtigen,  off  the 
coast  of  Pomerania,  in  the  Baltic,  as  the  sacred  isle  and  furnished 
it  with  a  Lake  Hertha,  a  name  derived  from  a  manuscript 
corruption  of  Nerthus  (cf.  the  similar  origin  of  "  Grampian  " 
from  a  mistaken  reading  Gr ampins  for  Graupius  in  Agricola 
29.  8).  Later  scholarship,  with  an  enthusiasm  pardonable  but 
barren  of  results,  has  advanced  the  claims  of  other  islands  both 
in  the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea.  —  castutn  nemus :  the  grove 
was  kept  unviolated  by  mortal  tread;  cf.  Ovid,  Fasti  4.  751, 
the  prayer  of  the  shepherd  to  Pales:  Si  nemus  intravi  vetitum 
.  .  .  da  veniam  culpae  ('  If  I  have  entered  a  forbidden  grove, 
grant  mercy  to  my  fault '). 

9.  veste  :   a  trapping  of  cloth. 

10.  penetrali :   the  wagon  is  the  ark  of  the  goddess. 

11.  bubus  f eminis :    the  chariot  of  Magna  Mater  was  also 
drawn  by  cows. 

12.  quaecumque  .  .  .   dignatur :    it    has    been    assumed    by 
a  recent  critic  that,  because  the  center  of  the  cult  of  Nerthus 
was  on  an  island,  the  whole  ceremonial  was  necessarily  confined 
to  the  one  district  and  that  large  deputations,  the  populi  re- 
ferred to  above,  were  sent  by  the  participating  states  and  es- 
tablished themselves  in  separate  camps  around  the  sacred  grove. 
Even  though  Tacitus  does  not  say  how  the  goddess  and  her 
car  were  transported  to  the  mainland,  his  language  certainly 
makes  for  the  view  that  they  were.     Populi  can  hardly  mean 


NOTES  121 

legationes  populorum  (cf.  39.  4)  and  quaecumque  .  .  .  dignatur 
points  to  an  extended  itinerary  as  does  also  the  analogy  fur- 
nished by  similar  progresses  from  place  to  place  of  wagons, 
ships  on  wheels,  and  the  like  on  festive  occasions  in  later  ages. 

13.  non  bella  ineunt :  such  truces  often  accompanied  inter- 
state religious  festivals ;  cf .  the  tKexeipla,  or  '  sacred  armis- 
tice '  proclaimed  for  the  month  in  which  the  Olympic  Games 
were  celebrated.  A  similar  "  truce  of  God "  was  observed 
during  the  period  of  the  Feriae  Latinae,  the  common  festival 
of  the  Latins  held  in  honor  of  Jupiter  Latiaris  on  the  Alban  Mt. 

16.  templo :  not  a  building  (cf.  note  on  9.  7),  but  the  holy 
precinct. 

18.  numen  ipsum :   the  conviction  of  the  devotees  was  that 
not  an  image  but  the  goddess  herself  was  bathed ;    otherwise 
the  clause  si  credere  velis  would  not  have  been  evoked,  cognizant 
as  Tacitus  and  his  generation  were  of  the  lavatio  of    the  cult 
symbol  of  Magna  Mater.     An  analogous  rite  was  performed  by 
women  on  the  statue  of  Venus  Verticordia  on  April  1 ;   cf.  Ovid, 
Fasti  4.  136.     Instances  of  the  lustration  of  cult  statues  were 
not  uncommon  in  Greek,  rituals ;    e.g.  the  xoanon  of  Athene 
was  bathed  at  Athens  on  the  occasion  of  the  festival  of  the 
Plynteria;    in  the  tragedy  of  Euripides,    Iphigenia  among  the 
Taurians,  the  stratagem  by  which  Iphigenia  steals  the  image 
of  Artemis  and  makes  good  the  escape  of  Orestes,  Pylades,  and 
herself  from  King  Thoas,  centers  about  a  feigned  intent  to  purify 
the  statue  by  bathing  it  in  the  sea. 

19.  quos  .  .  .  haurit :     the   story  of  Actaeon  is  perhaps  a 
mythical  expression  of  the  feeling  underlying  the  German  rite, 
viz.  that  he  to  whom  the  person  of  a  goddess  has  been  revealed 
unveiled  should  not  live  to  tell  the  tale.     Or  the  destruction  of 
the  ministrants  may  have  been  conceived  of  frankly  as  a  human 
sacrifice.  —  arcanus  :    mysterious. 

Chapter  41. 

The  Hermunduri  and  their  relations  with  Rome. 

1.    secretiora  :    more  remote  from  the  limes. 

3.  nunc  Danuvium  sequar :  he  proceeds  from  west  to  east 
in  his  narrative.  —  Hermundurorum :  eastern  neighbors  of  the 


122  NOTES 

Chatti ;  their  lands  extended  north  to  the  Hartz  Mts.  and  east 
to  the  Elbe,  thus  embracing  the  Saxon  Duchies  and  Southern 
Saxony.  They  figure  in  later  history  as  the  Thuringi. 

4.  in  ripa  :  of  the  Danube.  Their  territory  did  not  extend  to  the 
river  but  they  were  allowed  free  access  to  it  for  purposes  of  trade. 

6.  penitus :  said  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Hermunduri, 
who  were  permitted  to  pass  into  Roman  territory. 

6.  colonia :  Augusta  Vindelicorum,  situated  somewhat  north 
of  the  modern  Augsburg,  and  founded  as  a  market  town  by 
Drusus  in  15  B.C.  The  place  did  not,  in  the  time  of  Trajan, 
have  technically  the  standing  of  a  colonia,  hence  Tacitus  has 
used  the  term  here  in  a  free,  not  a  formal,  sense.  —  passim  et 
sine  custode :  the  limes  ordinarily  formed  a  customs-barrier 
which  rigorously  controlled  the  entry  of  the  Germans  even 
when  bound  on  peaceful  errands  ;  passage  was  allowed  at  specified 
places  only,  the  incoming  barbarian  had  to  pay  a  fee  and  to 
submit  to  disarmament  and  surveillance. 

8.  domos  villasque :    they  were  allowed  access  to  town-  and 
country-houses  alike. 

9.  Albis  oritur:    the  domains  of  the  Hermunduri  certainly 
did  not  embrace  Bohemia,  where  the  Elbe  takes  its  rise.     Either 
Tacitus  was  under  the  impression  that  the  source  of  the  river 
was  in  the  Erzgebirge  between  Saxony  and  Bohemia,  or  he  mis- 
took the  Saale,  a  tributary  of  the  Elbe,  for  the  Elbe  proper. 

10.  notum  olim :    Drusus  and  Tiberius  had  penetrated  to  the 
Elbe  and,  in  2  B.C.,  L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus  had  operated  on 
the  eastern  bank.     In  17  A.D.  Germanicus,  after  his  recall  from 
Germany,  celebrated  a  triumph  over  the  Cherusci,  the  Chatti, 
the  Angrivarii,  and  '  the  other  nations  which  extend  as  far  as 
the   Elbe,'    with   more   reclame,   however,    than   his   conquests 
justified.  —  nunc  .  .  .  auditur :     because,    with    the    recall    of 
Germanicus  by  Tiberius,  the  policy  of  wide  expansion  in  Ger- 
many had  been  relinquished. 

Chapter  42. 

The  Naristi,  the  Marcomanni,  and  the  Quadi. 

1.  Naristi :  they  lived  east  of  the  Hermunduri,  in  what  is 
now  Northeastern  Bavaria.  —  Marcomani :  i.e.  '  Border-men,' 


NOTES  123 

cf.  modern  German  Mark,  '  boundary.'  Since  the  last  decade 
B.C.,  they  had  occupied  Bohemia,  where,  under  the  leadership 
of  their  king,  Marobod,  they  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  powerful 
confederacy.  Their  supremacy  was  ended  for  the  time  being 
when  King  Marobod  was  defeated  in  a  war  with  the  Cherusei, 
begun  in  17  A.D.,  was  abandoned  by  his  allies,  and  forced  to 
take  refuge  in  Italy.  The  second  century  A.D.  witnessed  a 
renascence  of  their  power  and,  in  a  series  of  wars  with  Rome 
in  the  time  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  they  were  put  down  only  after 
a  stubborn  contest. 

2.  Quadi :   akin  to  the  Marcomanni  and  closely  united  with 
their  history  during  the  first  two  centuries  of  the  Empire.     Their 
territory  was  the  modern  Moravia. 

3.  pulsis  olim  Boils :    the  fact  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
Boii  had  left  their  original  seats  and  been  dispersed  in  various 
lands  in  the  west  and  the  south  some  years  prior  to  the  time 
of  Caesar's  campaigns  in  Gaul,  whereas  the  Marcomanni  under 
Marobod  did  not  settle  in  Bohemia  until  the  close  of  the  century, 
has  caused  the  accuracy  of  this  assertion  to  be  questioned.     How- 
ever, bands  of  the  Marcomanni,  abandoning  their  former  abode 
between  the  Main  and  the  Danube,  had  established  themselves 
in  Bohemia  during  the  period  of  the  emigrations  of  the  Boii. 
These  earlier  incursions  had  at  least  paved  the  way  for  the 
occupation  of  the  territory  by  Marobod,  and  it  is  possible  that 
remnants  of  the  Boii  that  still  maintained  a  foothold  offered  a 
futile  resistance  to  him. 

6.  velut  frons :    these  tribes  are  thought  of  as  facing  Rome. 
—  peragitur :    is  constituted  by;    a  different  region,  of  course, 
would  be  frons  Germaniae  where  the  Rhine  formed  the  bound- 
ary. 

7.  Tudri :   mentioned  here  only. 

8.  iam  et  externos :   as  iam  indicates,  recent  events  are  here 
referred  to,  but  we  are  ignorant  as  to  the  details  of  the  change 
in  dynasty. 

10.  nee  minus :  their  position  is  maintained  as  effectively  by 
financial  aid  as  by  armed  intervention ;  cf .  15.  12,  iam  et  pecuniam 
accipere  docuimus. 


124  NOTES 

Chapter  43. 

The  East  Germans. 

I.  retro :    north  and  east.     The  point  of  view  is  the  same 
as  that  implied  in  velut  frons,  42.  5.     The  four  tribes  here  men- 
tioned, inhabiting  a  country  for  the  most  part  mountainous, 
were,  therefore,  located  in  and  near  the  Riesengebirge  and  the 
Western  Carpathians.     The  Buri  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  modern 
Cracow,  the  Cotini  on  the  Upper  Gran,  the  Osi,  also  referred  to 
in  28.  10  f.,  in  Northwestern  Hungary,  north  of  the  great  bend 
of  the  Danube. 

3.  ref  erunt :  reproduce.  —  Cotinos  Gallica  :  the  Cotini  were 
undoubtedly  a  survival  of  the  Celtic  tribes  which,  mainly  grouped 
under  the  collective  name  Boii,  were  in  possession  of  the  lands 
north  of  the  Danube  at  the  time  of  the  great  migration  of  the 
Cimbri. 

5.  Sarmatae :    the  lazyges,  a  Sarmatian  tribe  living  between 
the  Danube  and  the  Theiss. 

6.  quo  magis  pudeat :   to  heighten  their  disgrace,  they  submit 
to  exactions,  although  they  have  at  their  disposal  material  for 
fashioning  weapons  with  which  to  assert  their  independence. 

9.  continuum    .  .  .    iugum :    the  watershed  formed    by    the 
Erzgebirge,  the  Riesengebirge,  the  Sudeties,  and  continued  to  the 
east  by  the  Carpathians. 

10.  ultra  quod  :   to  the  north. 

II.  Lygiorum  :  Lygii  and  Vandilii  were  both  collective  names, 
each  of  which  comprehended  a  number  of  the  peoples  of  East 
Germany ;  the  names  existed  for  a  time  side  by  side  and  were  to 
some  extent  interchangeable  until,  in  later  times,  the  second 
name  gained  exclusive  currency  in  the  derived  form  Vandali. 

The  several  tribes  of  the  Lygian  confederacy,  which  are  here 
listed,  occupied  the  country  now  comprised  by  Silesia,  Posen, 
and  Poland,  the  Vistula  forming  their  eastern  boundary. 

14.  antiquae  religionis  lucus :    the  cult  center  of  the  tribal 
union,  comparable  to  the  grove  of  the  Semnones,  39.  3. 

15.  sacerdos   muliebri   ornatu :    he   was   dressed   in   flowing 
robes  and  wore  his  hair  arranged  in  the  feminine  mode.     From 
the  fact  that  the  name  of  the  royal  line  of  the  Vandals,   Has- 
dingi,  signifies  '  men  with  women's  coiffure,'  it  has  been  plausibly 


NOTES  125 

conjectured  that,  as  was  the  case  in  the  primitive  Greco-Roman 
kingship,  the  functions  of  monarch  and  priest  were  united  in 
the  ruling  house  of  these  eastern  tribes. 

16.  vis  :    the  inherent  character. 

17.  Alcis  :  regarded  by  most  critics  as  a  dative  plural ;   how- 
ever, neither  this  point  nor  the  identity  of  the  divine  pair  itself 
has  been  absolutely  demonstrated.  —  peregrinae  superstitionis  : 
the  cult  was  indigenous,   not  imported  as  was,  according  to 
Tacitus,  the  worship  of  Isis,  alluded  to  in  chap.  9 ;    cf .  9.  4, 
peregrino  sacro,  et  seq. 

18.  tamen :  notwithstanding  the  lack  of  concrete  data  making 
for  the  identification  of  these  deities  with  Castor  and  Pollux, 
their  divine  personality  conforms  with  that  of  the  Twin  Brethren. 

19.  ceterum :    indicating  a  return  to  the  description  of  the 
people  after  the  digression  concerning  the  cult ;   for  a  like  usage 
see  Agricola  11.  1.  —  super:    =  praeter. 

21.  arte  ac  tempore  :    itemized  below.  —  lenocinantur :    they 
heighten,  promote. 

22.  tincta :  by  application  of  a  black  pigment  or  "  war-paint " 
before  going  into  battle.     The  Britons  resorted  to  a  more  durable, 
vegetable  dye  for  a  similar  purpose  ;  cf .  Caesar,  Bellum  Gallicum 
5.  14 :  omnes  vero  se  Britanni  vitro  inficiunt  quod  caeruleum  efficit 
colorem  atque  hoc  horribiliores  sunt  in  pugna  aspectu.  —  ipsa  .  .  . 
f  ormidine  .  .  .  exercitus :     by   the   sheer   dread   inspired   by   the 
shadowy  appearance  of  their  unearthly  host. 

24.  novum :   weird. 

25.  primi  .  .  .  oculi  vincuntur :    on  this  sentiment  see  note 
on  38.  14. 

27.  Gotones  :  the  Goths.  This  famous  race,  destined  to  play 
so  great  a  r61e  in  the  future  history  of  the  Roman  world,  lived  at 
this  time  north  of  the  Lygii  along  the  lower  Vistula.  By  the 
third  century  A.D.,  as  the  result  of  a  series  of  folk-movements, 
they  had  established  a  powerful  kingdom  in  Southern  Russia.  — 
regnantur :  the  ideas  of  location  and  government  are  blended  in 
the  one  word  ;  as  we  might  put  it  —  'is  situated  the  kingdom  of 
the  Goths.'  —  adductius :  the  metaphor  may  be  reproduced 
by  some  such  rendition  as,  the  reins  of  government  being  drawn 
more  tightly. 


126  NOTES 

28.  supra  libertatem :  the  monarchical  form  was  not  so  des- 
potic as  to  have  abolished  the  popular  freedom  typical  of  all  Ger- 
man states. 

29.  Rugii  et  Lemovii :   on  the  shore  of  the  Baltic  between  the 
Oder  and  the  Vistula. 

30.  rotunda  scuta,  breves  gladii :    that  arms  of  these  shapes 
were,  as  Tacitus  says,  characteristic  of  the  equipment  of  the  East 
Germans  is  amply  demonstrated  by  the  finds  made  in  graves, 
notably  in  West  Prussia.     Here  numerous  bosses  have  been  dis- 
covered, which  evidently  were  once  attached  to  round  shields, 
and  a  type  of  short,  iron  sword,  resembling  a  saber  and  edged  on 
one  side  only.     Arms  of  these  types  were  occasionally  in  use  among 
tribes  dwelling  west  of  the  Oder,  the  Suebi,  for  example.     For 
illustrations  see  F.  Kauffmann,  Deutsche  Alter tumskunde,  vol.  1, 
Plates  27.  3-5  and  34.  3. 

Chapter  44. 

The  SuiSnes. 

1.  SuiSnum  :   the  Latinized  form  of  the  ancient  Swedish  name 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula ;    the  modern 
term  '  Swede  '  is  a  derivative  of  the  original  root.  —  hinc :    the 
point  of  view  is  the  coast  between  the  Oder  and  the  Vistula.  — 
ipso  in  Oceano  :  Scandinavia  was  regarded  as  an  immense  island. 

2.  classibus  valent :   thus  the  later  vikings  came  naturally  by 
their  nautical  skill  and  daring.  —  differt :    from  Roman  models. 

3.  utrimque  prora :    the  adverb  is  used  attributively.     The 
shape  of  such  boats  was  similar  to  that  of  the  modern  canoe  and 
whaleboat.     Craft  of  this  type  were  constructed  by  Germanicus 
for  use  in  his  expedition  to  the  North  Sea  in  16  A.D.  ;  cf.  the  de- 
scription in  Annales  2.  6  :  plures  (naves)  adpositis  utrimque  guberna- 
culis,  converso  ut  repente  remigio  hinc  vel  illinc  adpellerent  ('  a 
number  of  the  ships  were  equipped  with  steering  gear  at  both 
ends  that,  by  a  sudden  shift  of  the  oars,  they  might  put  in  to 
shore  either  way  ')•     They  were  especially  suited  to  the  naviga- 
tion of  rivers  and  narrow  fiords  where  "  sea-room  "  for  turning 
might  be  lacking. 

4.  nee  ...  in  ordinem :    the  boats  were  not  rigged  so  as  to 
have  the  oars  in  a  permanent,  fixed  arrangement,  symmetrical 


NOTES  127 

on  each  side  in  respect  to  number  of  sweeps  and  intervals  apart, 
as  was  the  case  with  Roman  galleys. 

6.  solutum :   detachable.  —  in  quibusdam  fluminum :   a  stylis- 
tic variant  of  in  ...  fluminibus. 

7.  opibus  :     wealth.  —  unus   imperitat :     an   inference   which 
would  naturally  be  suggested  to  a  Roman  by  the  traditional  com- 
bination of  riches  and  absolutism  in  the  persons  of  the  Oriental 
despots ;    see  as  a  typical  illustration  Phraates,   Horace,  Odes 
2.  2.  16  f.     The  proverbial  point  of  view  of  the  Roman  is  ex- 
pressed by  Milton,  Paradise  Lost  2.  3  : 

"  Or  where  the  gorgeous  East  with  richest  hand 

Showers  on  her  kings  barbaric  pearl  and  gold." 
—  nullis  iam  exceptionibus :  in  this  instance  without  limitations; 
iam  implies  a  contrast  with  the  more  or  less  restricted  power 
wielded  generally  by  the  German  kings. 

8.  non   precario  iure  parendi :    with  a  claim  on  obedience  not 
subject  to  approval,  on  the  part  of  his  constituency,  as  it  were. 

9.  clausa  sub  custode :    it  has  been  suggested  that  Tacitus 
here  erroneously  reports  as  a  standing  condition  of  affairs  what 
was  only  a  temporary  disarmament,  enforced  during  a  sacred 
truce  which  accompanied  the  celebration  of  a  religious  festival ; 
cf.  the  similar  custom  among  the  worshipers  of  Nerthus,  chap. 
40.     Disarmament  of  the  subject  population  was  a  traditional 
device  of  the  ancient  Greek  tyranny,  and  it  was  naturally  from 
this  point  of  view  that  an  ancient  writer  might  interpret  the 
practice  elsewhere.     Recall  the  disarmament  of  the  Athenians 
by  the  Thirty  (Xenophon,  Hellenica  2.  3.  20)  and  the  stratagem 
(perhaps  apocryphal,  Busolt,  2.  p.  34.  note  2)  by  which  Pisistra- 
tus  secured  the  weapons  of  the  citizens  ;  Aristotle,  Constitution  of 
Athens  15.  4. 

11.  manus:  best  taken  literally  —  .'.'Satan  findeth  mischief 
still  for  idle  hands  to  do." 

Chapter  45. 

The  inert  Northern  Ocean ;  the  Aestii  and  their  goddess ; 
amber;  the  Sitflnes. 

1.  aliud  mare  :  distinct  from  Oceanus,  the  term  applied  to  the 
seas  adjacent  to  the  German  coast,  the  North  Sea  or  the  Baltic 


128  NOTES 

according  to  the  context,  pigrum  ac  prope  inmotum :  the  same 
qualities,  density  and  lack  of  mobility,  are  ascribed  in  Agricola 
10.  20  to  the  waters  about  Thule ;  see  the  note  on  this  passage. 

2.  hinc :  anticipating  the  evidence  contained  in  the  following 
quod  clause.  It  should  be  remembered  in  this  context  that  the 
explanation  of  the  cause  of  the  Midnight  Sun  as  given  in  Agricola 
12.  14,  scilicet  extrema  et  plana  terrarum  humili  umbra  non  erigunt 
tenebras,  assumes  that  the  phenomenon  is  visible  only  at  the 
edge  of  the  world. 

6.  radios  capitis :  a  regular  feature  of  literary  and  artistic 
portrayals  of  the  Sun  God ;  he  even  places  them  on  the  head  of 
Phaethon  before  the  fatal  course,  Ovid,  Metamorphoses  2.  124. 
Cf.  Vergil's  description  of  the  crown  of  Latinus,  Aeneid  12.  162  f . : 

.  .  .  cui  tempora  circum 
aurati  bis  sex  radii  fulgentia  cingunt, 
Solis  avi  specimen.   .  .  . 

—  persuasio':  popular  belief.  It  can  scarcely  be  to  opinions 
actually  current  among  the  peoples  of  the  far  North  to  which 
Tacitus  alludes.  The  notions  here  referred  to  accord  so  evidently 
with  the  conception  of  the  Sun  God  as  we  find  it  in  Greco-Roman 
mythology,  that  it  is  a  fair  inference  that  Tacitus  is  repeating  in 
a  deprecatory  tone  statements  found  in  literary  sources,  Roman 
or  more  probably  Hellenistic  ;  at  least  such  naive  ideas  of  natural 
phenomena  suggest  the  age  and  manner  of  Pytheas,  the  Greek 
traveler  who,  in  the  second  half  of  the  fourth  century  B.C., 
reported  to  the  civilized  world  the  existence  of  the  coagulated 
sea,  or  even  of  the  Stoic  philosopher,  Posidonius,  Cicero's  older 
contemporary,  who  asserted  that  the  sun,  when  it  dropped  in  the 
Western  Ocean,  hissed  like  a  mass  of  red-hot  iron. 

Note  that  Tacitus  does  not  assume  responsibility  for  the  data 
in  this  sentence,  whereas,  in  those  which  precede  and  follow, 
fides  and  fama  vera  respectively  show  that  he  vouches  for  the 
truth  of  his  assertions. 

6.  tantum  natura :  the  meaning  of  natura  here,  '  the  natural 
world,'  '  creation,'  is  the  same  as  in  Agricola  33.  28.  Tacitus 
may  have  believed  his  confident  assertion  justified  by  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  information  gained  by  Agricola's  expedition  of 


NOTES  129 

exploration.  —  ergo  iam :  the  connection  is :  since  this  northern 
region  marks  the  end  of  the  known  world  and  there  is  nothing 
more  to  be  said  concerning  this  locality,  I  turn  accordingly  at 
this  point  to  the  east  coast  of  the  Baltic. 

7.  Aestiorum  gentes :  the  peoples  who  dwelt  along  the  Baltic, 
in  East  Prussia  and  Russia  as  far  as  the  Gulf  of  Finland.     They 
were  non-Germanic  in  origin  and  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Old 
Prussians,   Lithuanians,  and    Letts.      It  is  supposed    that  the 
modern  Esthonians,  though  of  Finnish  stock,  have  perpetuated 
the  name. 

8.  lingua  Britannicae  propior :     the  ears  of  unscientific  ob- 
servers, probably  traders,  detected  in  the  language  of  the  Aestii 
sounds  which  bore  a  certain  resemblance  to  the  more  familiar 
Celtic.     Similarly,  in  Agricola  11.  12,  Tacitus  cites  the  resem- 
blance between  the  languages  of  the  Gauls  and  the  southeast 
Britons  as  an  indication  that  the  latter  were  of  Gallic  extraction. 
However,  neither  Tacitus  nor  the  ancient  world  in  general  had 
anything   but  a  rudimentary   conception  of   the   utilization  of 
linguistic  criteria  in  the  differentiation  of  races. 

9.  matrem  deum :    the  data  are  too  meager  to  justify  our 
assuming  on  the  basis  of  this  context  the  actual  existence  among 
these  peoples  of  the  cult  of  a  mother  goddess.     Figures  of  boars 
were  worn  as  amulets  by  the  devotees  of  Magna  Mater  in  Rome 
and  similar  insignia,  seen  on  the  natives  of  the  East  Baltic  coast, 
may  have  without  further  reason  inspired  the  theory. 

10.  omnium  :   neuter.     The  genitive  is  objective. 

Belief  in  the  efficacy  of  inanimate  objects  to  protect  the  bearer 
from  harm,  emanating  from  natural  or  supernatural  sources,  is 
ages  old  and  still  finds  expression  in  modern  times,  e.g.  in  the 
Italian's  faith  in  his  coral  prophylactic  against  the  evil  eye. 
The  superstition  has  never  been  confined  to  one  race  or  branch 
of  mankind.  In  Northern  Europe  graves,  dating  back  to  the 
Stone  and  Bronze  Ages,  have  yielded  amulets  of  many  types  and 
fashioned  from  many  materials,  such  as  stone,  horn,  shell,  the 
teeth,  bones,  and  claws  (ef.  '  the  rabbit's  foot '  of  Negro  supersti- 
tion) of  various  animals. 

14.  laborant:  in  Augustan  poetry,  the  accusative  follows 
laborare  to  denote  the  thing  wrought  out  or  produced  by  work. 


130  NOTES 

Here  they  take  pains  in  cultivating  is  an  approximate  rendition.  — 
sed  et :  they  do  not  confine  themselves  to  the  land  in  the  quest 
of  a  livelihood,  but,  et  seq.  —  omnium :  i.e.  Germanorum. 

16.  glesum :    English  glass,  glare,  German  Glanz,  glanzen  are 
from  the  root  which  appears  in  this  word.  —  inter  vada  atque  in 
ipso  litore :   from  the  Stone  Age  to  the  present  day  the  Prussian 
coast  has  been  famed  for  its  amber.     In  the  time  of  Tacitus 
Samland,  north  of  Konigsberg  in  East  Prussia,  had  practically  a 
monopoly  of  this  commodity  and  is  still  the  chief  source  of  the 
world's  supply ;   Dantzig  is  the  principal  depot  of  the  trade. 

Amber  is  still  gathered  on  the  coast  by  searchers  who  are 
equipped  with  nets  attached  to  long  poles,  and  who  ransack  the 
shallows  at  low  tide.  Dredging  operations  and  divers  are  also 
employed.  Amber  is  likewise  found  in  pit  deposits  at  some 
distance  from  the  sea  and  is  in  this  case  obtained  by  mining 
processes. 

17.  ut  barbaris :    as  would  naturally  be  the  case  among  barba- 
rians', cf.  Agricola  11.  2,  ut  inter  barbaros. 

18.  luxuria  nostra :   as  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  amber  was 
prized  at  very  early  periods  of  civilization.     In  the  Stone  Age 
amber  ornaments  were  the  favorite  articles  of  personal  adornment, 
as  the  graves  of  the  period  testify.     In  the  Bronze  Age  amber 
ceased  to  be  so  highly  favored  among  the  northern  peoples,  who 
had  learned  to  know  bronze  and  gold,  but  it  became  an  article 
of   commerce   and  was   spread  by   various   trade  routes   over 
Mediterranean  and  Western  Europe,  where  it  was  eagerly  wel- 
comed.    Objects  of  amber  have  been  found  in  the  Mycenaean 
tombs  of  Greece,  in  the  lake  dwellings  of  Italy,  and  even  among 
relics  of  the  Bronze  Age  in  England. 

Of  these  facts  Tacitus,  of  course,  had  no  knowledge,  so  con- 
fines himself  to  mentioning  amber  as  an  article  of  Roman  luxury, 
in  which  it  began  to  have  a  place  in  the  late  Republic  and  the 
early  Empire.  Great  quantities  of  it  were  brought  to  Rome  in 
the  principate  of  Nero  to  be  used  in  enhancing  the  magnificence 
of  a  gladiatorial  exhibition ;  cf .  Pliny,  Naturalis  Historia  37.  3. 
11.  45.  The  substance  was  used  chiefly  in  the  manufacture  of 
necklaces  and  other  articles  of  feminine  adornment ;  sword- 
hilts,  utensils  of  various  sorts,  and  statuettes  were  fashioned 


NOTES  131 

from  it,  and  it  was  also  esteemed  for  certain  medicinal  qualities 
which  it  was  supposed  to  possess. 

19.  nomen :   reputation. 

20.  prof ertur :   is  offered  for  sale.  —  sucum  .  .  .  arborum :   in 
modern  scientific  parlance,  fossilized  resin. 

21.  terrena  .  .  .  volucria  animalia :    an  assertion  completely 
verified  by  modern  observation ;    among  the  inclosures  have 
been  found  remains  of  insects,  worms,  crustaceans,  occasional 
fragments  of  hair  and  feathers,  and  also  leaves  and  plant  struc- 
tures. 

See  Herrick  "  On  a  Fly  buried  in  Amber,"  a  theme  imported 
into  poetry  by  Martial,  4.  32 ;  cf .  Bacon,  Sylva  Sylvarum, 
Century  I.  Experiment  100  :  "  We  see  how  flies,  and  spiders,  and 
the  like,  get  a  sepulchre  in  amber,  more  durable  than  the  monu- 
ment and  embalming  of  the  body  of  any  king,"  and  Pope, 
Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot  169  : 

"  Pretty  in  amber  to  observe  the  forms 

Of  hairs,  or  straws,  or  dirt,  or  grubs,  or  worms." 

24.  f  ecundiora :  the  comparative  denotes  the  possession  of  the 
quality  in  an  unwonted  degree. 

26.  quae :  the  connection  is  rendered  hazy  by  the  fact  that 
the  antecedent  is  not  expressed  but  was  felt  to  be  implied  by  the 
substances  involved  in  f  ecundiora;  translate:  Just  as  in  out-of-the- 
way  corners  of  the  Orient,  where  frankincense  and  balsam  are  dis- 
tilled (from  the  trees'),  so  ...  there  are  forests  and  groves  teeming 
to  an  unusual  degree  (with  substances)  which,  et  cet. 

29.  in  modum  taedae :    it  is  reported  —  the  editor  cannot 
personally  vouch  for  the  facts  —  that  at  the  present  time  the 
rough  fragments  of  amber  which  are  cast  up  on  the  west  coast  of 
Schleswig-Holstein  are  utilized  by  the  poorer  classes  for  light ;  cf . 
the  name  Bernstein  (Brennstein). 

30.  in  ...  lentescit :  it  turns  into  a  viscous  substance  resem- 
bling, et  cet. 

32.  Sitonum  gentes :  it  is  conjectured  that  they  were  Finnish 
tribes  who  occupied  the  northern  part  of  Scandinavia.  To 
classify  them  with  the  Suebi  is  an  ethnological  error  pure  and 
simple.  —  continuantur  :  are  next  to. 


132  NOTES 

33.  f  emina  dominatur  :  probably  a  myth  and  perhaps  founded 
on  a  popular  etymology  which  compared  Kainulaiset,  i.e.  '  Low- 
landers,'  the  name  of  a  Finnish  tribe,  with  an  old  German  word 
for  woman  preserved  in  Engl.  quean,  queen.  In  later  times  a 
race  of  Amazons  was  localized  in  the  far  north. 

Chapter  46. 

'   The  Eastern  Peoples. 

1.  Peucinorum:    the  name  is  here  used  as  coextensive  with 
Bastarnae  (see  below),  a  Germanic  race  of  which  the  Peucini, 
so-called  from  Ileu/cT?,  '  Isle  of  Pines,'  their  dwelling-place  in  the 
delta  of  the  Danube,  were  strictly  only  a  branch.     The  hesitancy 
on  the  part  of  Tacitus  in  classing  the  Peucini  as  Teutons  is 
clearly    based    merely    on    their    proximity  to    non-Germanic 
peoples    and    on   the    hybrid    physical    type    which    resulted 
from   their  intermarrying    with  the    Sarmatae.  —  Venedorum : 
they   were    Slavs  —  compare     the     later    German    designation 
Wends  —  who  lived  east  of  the  Vistula,  in  Poland  and  adjacent 
regions. 

2.  Fennorum  :  dwelling  in  Northern  and  Northeastern  Russia. 
The  connection  of  the  name  with  latter-day  Finn,  is  unmistak- 
able ;  however,  it  does  not  follow  from  this  fact  that  the  ancestors 
of  the  enlightened  race  of  modern  Finns  are  to  be  sought  among 
these  peoples   to  whom  Tacitus  attributes  so  low  a  scale  of 
civilization.  —  Sarmatis  :  see  note  on  1.  2.     The  life  here  ascribed 
to  them,  that  of  the  typical  nomads,  wandering  on  horseback  or 
in  wagon-houses  in  quest  of  pasturage  for  their  herds,  is  paralleled 
by  the  picture  given  by  Herodotus  of  the  Scythians,  who  once 
stretched  northward  from  the  Danube  and  the  Black  Sea.     The 
Scythians  had  been  merged  with  the  .Sarmatae  as  the  result  of 
conquest  and  assimilation. 

3.  Bastarnas :     this  brave  and  warlike  people,   so  early  as 
200  B.C.,  had  established  itself  in  the  lands  north  of  the  lower 
Danube,  after  an  emigration  that  was  first  in  the  historical 
series  of  Germanic  race  movements  to  the  south.     Here  they 
were  brought  into  immediate  contact  with  both  Greece  and  Rome, 
for  they  served  as  allies  of  Philip  V  of  Macedon  and  of  his  son 
Perseus  in  the  Second  and  Third  Macedonian  Wars,  200-196 


NOTES  133 

and  171-168  B.C.  A  century  later  Mithradates  recruited  from 
them  especially  efficient  forces. 

4.  sede  :  permanence  of  abode;  they  were  not  nomads  as  were 
the  Sarmatae. 

6.  sordes  omnium :  a  quality  attributed  in  chap.  20.  1  more 
particularly  to  the  children.  —  torpor  procerum :  said  with 
reference  to  times  of  peace  ;  recall  the  general  description  of  the 
lethargic  existence  of  the  members  of  the  comitatus  quotiens 
bella  non  ineunt,  chap.  15.  1. 

6.  f oedantur :   they  show  debasement. 

7.  ex  moribus  :   Sarmatarum  is  understood. 

9.  hi    ...    inter    Germanos :     Tacitus    was    ignorant    of 
the     basic     ethnological     distinction     between     Teuton     and 
Slav. 

10.  pedum  usu  ac  pernicitate :  habitual  riders  are  proverbially 
clumsy  when  on  their  feet,  and  besides  are  generally  handicapped 
by  an  apparel  or  equipment  primarily  designed  for  life  in  the 
saddle.     Thus,  in   Historiae  1.  79,  we  read  that  the  Rhoxolani, 
a  Sarmatian  tribe,  were  quite  helpless  as  foot-soldiers.     The  Huns 
of  later  history  were  also  inefficient  infantrymen,  since  they  were 
shod  with  shapeless  boots  which  impeded  their  steps  (Ammianus 
Marcellinus,  31.  2.  6) ;   the  high-heeled  boots  of  the  traditional 
American  cowboy  are  ill-adapted  to  walking. 

12.  in  plaustro  :  in  such  folk  migrations  as  that  of  the  Cimbri 
and  the  Teutons,  wagons  were  in  daily  use  among  the  Germans. 

—  equo  .  .  .  viventibus  :  the  Scythians  and  the  Huns  were  por- 
trayed as  performing  on  horseback  such  habitual  acts  of  every- 
day life  as  eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping ;  cf .  Ammianus  Mar- 
cellinus, 31.  2.  6. 

13.  foeda  paupertas  :  the  level  of  culture  attributed  by  Tacitus 
to  the  Fenni  is  practially  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  famous  African 
pygmies.  —  non  arma :    their  arrows,  employed  as  a  means  of 
obtaining  sustenance,  were  used  only  against  wild  animals,  a 
state  of  affairs  which  coincides  with  life  in  the  pacific  long-ago 
approved  by  Tibullus,  1.  10.  5-6: 

An  nihil  ille  miser  (the  inventor  of  "  cold  steel  ")  meruit,  nos 
ad  mala  nostra 
vertimus  in  saevas  quod  dedit  ille  feras  f 


134  NOTES 

('  Or  has  that  unfortunate  earned  no  blame  ?    Have  we  turned  to 
our  evil  purposes  what  he  gave  us  to  use  against  savage  beasts?  ')• 

15.  asperant :   they  tip  with. 

16.  venatus  .  .  .  alit :   the  pygmies  are  seldom,  if  ever,  tillers 
of  the  soil ;    they  build  only  temporary  habitations  as  they  are 
always  roving  from  place  to  place  in  the  forest  in  pursuit  of  game. 

18.  in  aliquo  ramorum  nexu :  a  wattled  shelter  of  boughs, 
comparable  to  the  wickiup  of  the  North  American  Indian.  The 
dwellings  of  the  pygmies  in  Africa  are  arbors  constructed  of  bent, 
interlaced  branches  and  plantain  leaves. 

For  all  Tacitus  says  to  the  contrary,  these  structures  of  boughs 
served  the  Fenni  as  summer  and  winter  habitations  alike ;  such 
an  arrangement  is  very  improbable  in  these  latitudes  and  is  con- 
tradicted by  modern  conditions  among  the  denizens  of  these 
regions.  Among  the  least  civilized  branches  of  Finno-Ugrian 
races,  "  the  most  primitive  form  of  house  consists  of  poles  inclined 
towards  one  another  and  covered  with  skins  or  sods,  so  as  to  form 
a  circular  screen  round  a  fire ;  winter  houses  are  partly  under- 
ground." Encyc.  Brit.,  llth  ed.,  vol.  10,  p.  392. 

20.  beatius  arbitrantur  :  Tacitus  writes  as  though  their  primi- 
tive mode  of  life  were  the  result  of  deliberate  option,  whereas,  of 
course,  it  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  at  a  level  of  culture 
below  those  in  which  agriculture  and  trade  flourish.     The  Fenni, 
it  is  unnecessary  to  state,  had  not  indulged  in  such  philosophizing 
as  to  the  summum  bonum  of  existence,  but  Tacitus,  rhetorician 
and  romanticist,  poses  as  the  champion  of  the  simple  life.  — 
ingemere  :  a  figurative  expression  for  hard  labor,  borrowed  from 
the  poets ;   the  editors  cite  Lucretius,  De  Rerum  Natura  5.  209, 
vis  humana  .  .  .  valido  consueta  bidenti  ingemere  ('  the  force  of 
man,  accustomed  to  groan  beneath  the  stout  hoe  '),  and  Vergil, 
Georgics  1.   45.      We  may  add  the  similar   usage    in    Horace, 
Epodes  5.  29—31,    Veia  .  .  .  ligonibus  duris  humum  exhauriebat 
ingemens  laboribus  ('  Veia,  with  the  toilsome  mattock,  was  casting 
up  the  earth  and  groaning  over  her  exertions  '),  though  here 
perhaps  the  groans  were  conceived  of  as  literally  forthcoming 
from  the  toiling  witch. 

21.  inlaborare  domibus :    the  preceding  reference  to  work  in 
the  fields,  the  province  of  the  man,  would  suggest  that  we  have 


NOTES  135 

here,  by  way  of  contrast,  an  allusion  to  the  duties  of  the  home, 
housework  and  spinning,  regarded  as  belonging  in  civilized  society 
to  woman's  sphere ;  cf.  for  example,  the  famous  epitaph  of  Clau- 
dia, Biicheler,  Carmina  Epigraphica  52,  domum  servavit,  lanam 
fecit.  Many  editors,  however,  prefer  the  interpretation  to  toil 
at  (building)  houses  and  assume  the  allusion  to  be  to  the  ease  with 
which  the  shelters  referred  to  above  were  constructed. 

In  any  case,  inlaborare  is  unique  in  this  sense  and  was  perhaps 
coined  by  Tacitus  to  match  ingemere.  —  spe  metuque  :  they  lived 
in  a  "  Goldless  age,  where  gold  disturbs  no  dreams "  (Byron, 
The  Island). 

22.  versare :    to  manipulate  in  the  activities  of  trade. 

23.  rem  dimcillimam :    Tacitus  pretends,  perhaps  somewhat 
maliciously,  that  the  natural  man,  here  represented  by  the  primi- 
tive Fermi,  had  attained  what  philosophers  of  different  schools, 
but  especially  the  Stoics,  had  exerted  themselves  through  centu- 
ries to  commend  to  civilized  man  as  the  only  source  of  true  happi- 
ness, viz.  serene  indifference  to  the  manifold  objects  of  human 
desire ;  for  one  exposition  of  the  theme  out  of  many,  see  Horace, 
Epistulae  1.  6  beginning 

Nil  admirari  prope  res  est  una,  Numid, 
solaque  quae  possit  facere  et  servare  beatum 

('  Indifference  to  everything  is  almost  the  one  and  only  thing  that 
can  make  and  keep  one  happy,  O  Numicius  ').  —  ne  voto  quidem : 
for  the  sense  compare  Horace,  Satires  2.  6.  1-3 : 

Hoc  erat  in  votis:   modus  agri  non  ita  magnus, 
hortus  ubi  et  tecto  vicinus  iugis  aquae  fons 
et  paulum  silvae  super  his  foret.     Auctius  atque 
di  melius  fecere.  .  .  . 

('  This  was  among  my  prayers :  a  plot  of  land  of  not  too  great 
extent,  where  there  would  be  a  garden  and,  hard  by  the  house,  a 
rill  of  water  ever  flowing,  and,  besides,  a  bit  of  woodland. 
With  more  generous  bounty  the  gods  have  favored  me  ')• 

24.  fabulosa:    human  credulity  in  all  ages  has  delighted  to 
people  unknown  lands  with  monstrous  beings  of  many  kinds. 
E.g.  Herodotus,  4.  191,  speaks,  though  skeptically,  of  the  ex- 
istence in  Africa  of  a  '  dogheaded  race '  and  of  '  headless  men, 


136  NOTES 

having  their  eyes  in  their  breasts ' ;  Othello,  Act  1,  Scene  3,  line 
167,  woos  Desdemona  with  stories  of  — 

"  The  Anthropophagi  and  men  whose  heads 
Do  grow  beneath  their  shoulders." 

On  the  currency  of  such  tales  in  16th  century  England,  see 
the  note  on  the  passage  in  the  Variorum  edition  by  Furness. 
Even  the  modern  world  has  scarcely  ceased  to  react  to  reports  of 
the  existence  of  men  with  monkeys'  tails.  —  Hellusios  et 
Oxionas :  we  can  say  of  these  only  that  they  were  regarded  as 
denizens  of  the  fabled  North. 

26.    incompertum :   expressive  of  an  agnostic  rather  than  of  a 
rationalistic,  negative  attitude. 


APPENDIX 


Below  are  tabulated  the  chief  deviations  from  the  text  of  the 
Germania  contained  in  Halm's  fourth  edition,  which,  until  the 
appearance  of  the  second  volume  of  the  revision  now  being  pre- 
pared by  Andresen,  must  remain  the  generally  accepted  means  of 
textual  comparison. 

B  =  the  Vatican  manuscript  no.  1862. 

b  =  the  Leyden  manuscript. 

C  =  the  Vatican  manuscript  no.  1518. 

c   =  the  Naples  manuscript. 

E  =  the  Jesi  manuscript. 

T  =  the  Toledo  manuscript. 


CHAPTER 

2.  11.  Ei  (BE)  .  .  .  conditoremque 

(conditorisque,       mss.), 
Manno ;       see     Andresen, 
Wochenschrift  fur  klassische 
Philologie,  1903,  col.  276-8 ; 
1910,  col.  1317. 

4.  1.  opinionibus,  mss. 

4.  2.  nullis  aliis. 

4.  4.  tamquam,  B  on  the  margin, 

Cc  ;  see  Andresen,  Jahres- 
berichte  des  philologischen 
Vereins  zu  Berlin,  28 
(1902),  p.  308;  Zernial, 
ibid.  29  (1903),  p.  269  f. 

8.  9.  Veledam,   BcET ;     Valedam, 

C ;    Voledam,  b. 

9.  2.  Herculem   ef  Martem,   ET  ; 

Herculem  ac  Martem,  Cc ; 
Martem  .  .  .  placant  et  Her- 
culem, Bb. 

137 


HALM 

et . . .  conditoresque. 
Manno. 


opinioni. 
nullis  [aliis]. 
quamquam. 


Velaedam. 


Herculem  ac  Martem. 


138 


APPENDIX 


10.  17. 

11.  3. 
11.  11. 
13.  8. 

13.  14. 

14.  12. 
16.  10. 
18.  1-5. 
20.  3. 

20.  10. 

21.  16. 


25.  1. 

26.  3. 

27.  11. 

28.  11. 

30.  1. 


30.  11. 


30.  16. 

31.  14. 
35.  2. 
35.  13. 
36.5. 

37.  18. 

38.  10. 


apud   sacerdotes ;    se   enim, 

mss. 

pertractentur,  BbET. 
turbae,  mss. 
ceteris,  mss. 
semper  et,  ET. 
enim  principis,  mss. 
lineamenta,  BCET. 
quamquam  .  .  .  ambiuntur. 
ancillis  ac,  CcET. 
ad  patrem,  BCcET. 
obligantur :   victus  .  .  .  comis. 

See  note  on  the  passage. 


descriptis,  mss. 

in  vices,  BE. 

quae  nationes,  mss. 

Germanorum     natione. 


sacerdotes  enim. 

praetractentur. 

turba. 

ceteri. 

semper. 

enim  a  principis. 

liniamenta. 

Chapter  17.  13-16. 

ancillis  aut. 

apud  patrem. 

obligantur,  [victus . . . 
comis].  See  An- 
dresen,  Wochen- 
schriftfur  klassische 
Philologie,  1915, 
col.  885. 

discriptis. 

universis  [vices]. 

quaeque  nationes. 

[Germanorum  na- 
tione]. 

ultra  hos  Chatti : 
initium  .  .  .  in- 
cohatur. 

Romanae  discipli- 
nae. 


ultra  hos  Chatti  initium  .  .  . 

incohant,      cE ;       inchoant, 

CT. 
ratione    disciplinae,  b2c ;    see 

Mullenhoff,     Deutsche    Al- 
ter tumskunde,    4,    p.    411 ; 

roe,  CE ;    r6e,  T ;  romane, 

B ;   romane,  b. 

parare,  mss.  parere. 

vultu,  BbET.  cultu. 

redit,  mss.  recedit. 

exercitus.  .  [exercitus]. 

nomina    superioris     (nomine      nomina  superior! 

superioris,  mss.) 

consularis,  mss.  consulares. 

retro   sequuntur,   BbET,   se-      retorquent. 

cuntur,  c. 


APPENDIX 


139 


38.  11. 

religatur,  BbET. 

religant. 

38.  14. 

ut.     See  note  on  the  passage. 

[ut]. 

38.  14. 

armantur,   BET  in  text,  all 

ornantur. 

showing  a  variant  ornan- 

tur;    ornantur,  b  with  su- 

perscribed   arm;    ornantur, 

Cc  ;     armantur,    c2,    above 

line. 

39.  1. 

vetustissimos  se,  BbET. 

vetustissimos. 

40.5. 

Nuithones,  BcE. 

Nuitones. 

41.  6. 

passim    et    sine,    Cc.       See 

passim  sine. 

Andresen,  Wochenschriftfiir 

klassische  Philologie,  1910, 

col.    1317  ;      Jahresberichte 

des  philologischen     Vereins 

zu  Berlin,  36  (1910),  p.  281. 

42.  5. 

peragitur,  mss. 

praecingitur. 

42.  7. 

mansere,  BET. 

manserunt. 

43.  11. 

Lygiorum,  correction  in  BE. 

Lugiorum. 

43.  13. 

Helisios,  ET  ;  Helysios,  BCc. 

Elisios. 

43.  27-31. 

trans  .  .  .  obsequium. 

Chapter  44.  1-5. 

43.  27. 

Lygios,  BCcET. 

Lugios. 

44.  4. 

ministrantur,  mss. 

ministrant. 

45.  3. 

ortus,  CcET. 

ortum. 

45.  6. 

(et  fama  vera)',  mss.  ;  editor's 

si  fama  vera. 

parenthesis. 

45.  10. 

omnium,  mss. 

omni. 

45.  15. 

glesum,  mss. 

glaesum. 

45.  20. 

profertur,  bET. 

perfertur. 

45.  22. 

interlucent,  mss. 

interiacent        (an 

error). 

46.  5. 

torpor  procerum,  mss. 

torpor  :      ora     pro- 

cerum. 

46.  11. 

usu  ac,  mss. 

usu  et  (an  error). 

46.  14. 

cubile,  mss. 

cubili  (an  error). 

46.  15. 

spes,  mss. 

opes. 

Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  690  553     3 


